Rhode Island lawmakers race to ensure healthcare protections

Rhode Island leaders are standing against the Senate’s newly unveiled healthcare bill. The bill, also known as “Trumpcare,” includes major cuts to Medicaid and tax cuts for the wealthy. The House of Representatives passed its version of the bill in May, and the Senate released its draft last week. “They are proposing radical changes to the Medicaid program that impact not only those people newly covered under the Affordable Care Act, but people who for 54 years have had access to this program to serve these critical and very urgent needs,” said Karen Malcolm, the coordinator of the Protect Our Healthcare Coalition Rhode Island. Malcolm says that Rhode Island senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse are trying to defeat the bill in the Senate with grassroots support from many Rhode Islanders. At the state level, Malcolm has been working with her coalition to pass a bill to protect patients. The bill is called the Market Stability and Consumer Protection Act, and it would put Obamacare protections into state law. The Rhode Island Senate has already passed the act with an overwhelming majority. The Corporations Committee in the Rhode Island House of Representatives is expected to vote on it tomorrow, in time for a full floor vote before the General Assembly leaves for the summer at the end of the week.