PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The Latest on the effects of a proposed congressional health care overhaul on Rhode Island (all times local):
4:50 p.m.
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo says a plan in Congress to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law puts thousands of Rhode Island residents at risk of losing care and will make health care more expensive for those who can least afford it.
The Democratic governor said in a written statement Tuesday that she’ll do everything in her power to oppose what she calls Trumpcare. A new health bill was released this week as congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump try to make good on campaign promises to repeal and replace Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Raimondo says Obama’s reforms have worked in Rhode Island, which has one of the nation’s lowest uninsured rates. She says the state has successfully controlled Medicaid costs without reducing benefits or eligibility.
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1:28 p.m.
Rhode Island’s Democratic leaders say a new GOP health care bill proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives could harm the state.
U.S. Reps. David Cicilline and Jim Langevin criticized the proposal Tuesday. So did the state Senate’s health committee chairman, Democratic Sen. Josh Miller, who says it would make more people uninsured and the health system more expensive.
Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo was at a conference in Arizona and not immediately available for comment.
But in January, she wrote to U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy asking the California Republican to maintain existing coverage gains realized under former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, and to avoid transferring costs to states.
She said states should have the freedom to experiment and the discretion to retain reforms that have worked.
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