In her State of the State address, Governor Raimondo spoke to two areas that have been priorities for Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island – protecting the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and improving access to behavioral healthcare in Rhode Island.

Before the ACA was enacted, Rhode Island had already adopted many ACA protections, such as making health insurance available to everyone, regardless of any pre-existing medical conditions, and allowing young people to stay on their parents’ health plans until age 26. But with the ongoing threats to the ACA taking place at the federal level, we must do more to adopt more of the ACA protections into Rhode Island law. To that end, BCBSRI is pleased to be a member of the Market Stability Workgroup, which will make recommendations to ensure these protections become a part of Rhode Island law. The workgroup, made up of policy leaders, elected officials, business leaders, providers and health insurers, was convened by the state last April and was charged with determining state-level solutions to keep the state’s health insurance markets stable.

Improving access to behavioral healthcare continues to be a top priority for BCBSRI. During the past year, we have partnered with providers to expand access to medication-assisted treatment to treat opioid use disorders, to reduce the out-of-pocket cost barriers to programs for children and teens with mental health needs, and to increase access to urgent appointments for children and teens in need of behavioral healthcare. We also expanded our partnership with Rhode Island PBS Education Services to bring education on prevention of opioid misuse into Rhode Island middle and high school classrooms.

We pledge to continue working with the Governor in these and other critical areas, such as implementing a cost growth target for healthcare. Our company’s vision – to passionately lead a state of health and well-being across Rhode Island – is aligned with the priorities outlined by the Governor. Ultimately, we want to ensure that all Rhode Islanders have access to affordable, high-quality healthcare.