Here are five key points:
1. Representatives introduced the bill in February 2015.
2. The House Finance Committee will hear the proposal.
3. The bill would give the state the authority to allocate healthcare for Rhode Island residents and control costs, as opposed to insurers.
4. If the bill is passed, legislators would impose a tax based on the ability to pay, which would replace premiums and out-of-pocket costs. The representatives’ bill does not detail how ability to pay would be determined.
5. Between 1991 and 2014, healthcare spending per person rose 250 percent in Rhode Island.
Rep. Aaron Regunberg, D-Providence, said, “I don’t have any illusions (of) this being an easy fight. Really, really big shakeups like this rarely pass in the first couple years. It generally takes awhile for the arguments to take hold.”
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