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Moving Forward...Health Reform Celebrates
First Anniversary |
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Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act being signed into law. Health reform has already delivered important wins for Rhode Island's children and families. RIte Care eligibility levels have been protected. Children with serious health conditions cannot be denied coverage, nor can they have annual or lifetime insurance limits. Parents can keep their children on their family health insurance policies until age 26, even if they are not students.
Health reform builds upon the existing public programs that work for kids by improving Medicaid and extending the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through 2015. Health coverage options like RIte Care and RIte Share ensure that low-income families can get their kids the high quality, affordable, comprehensive care they need when they need it.
Many decisions will be made over the next few years that will have consequences for decades to come. A key first step is passing legislation (S-0087 and H-5498) that will establish a Health Insurance Exchange, a marketplace through which many families will purchase health insurance coverage starting in 2014.
The Rhode Island Healthcare Reform Commission is an important avenue through which state leaders will hear from health care stakeholders and consumers about how to make health care reform work for Rhode Island. |
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Governor Chafee's Proposed FY12 Budget |
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Governor Chafee's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2012 (H-5894) contains no proposed changes to the RIte Care health insurance program. Eligibility, premiums and benefits would remain the same for children and parents.
Other important proposed changes related to children's health insurance coverage:
- The Children's Health Account would be enhanced by increasing the maximum "per child per service" assessment level from $6,000 to $7,500 as well as expanding the definition of the services that can be counted toward the spending limit.
- The policymaking and administrative staff of the Medicaid program would be transferred from the Department of Human Services to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, establishing EOHHS as the "Single State Agency" for Medicaid administration. Medicaid includes RIte Care, RIte Share, children with special health care needs, including those with Katie Beckett coverage and children in the foster care system.
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| Rhode Island Oral Health Plan Released |
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The Rhode Island Oral Health Commission has released the Rhode Island Oral Health Plan, 2011-2016. The Plan lays out a blueprint for improving access to oral healthcare, implementing evidence-based oral healthcare practices, preventing oral disease and promoting oral health, maintaining the dental safety net, sustaining the oral health workforce, and informing oral health policy decisions. |
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2011 Legislative Session |
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Rhode Island KIDS COUNT monitors legislation related to Rhode Island child well-being during the legislative session. View our website's
Legislation section for updated hearing announcements, legislative tracking and testimony from Rhode Island KIDS COUNT.
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| Save the Dates! |
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Please add the following child health related events to your 2011 calendar.
Monday, April 4, 2011
2011 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook Breakfast, Crowne Plaza, Warwick. Download the invitation here.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
RIte Care Workshop. Invitation to follow. |
