Outgoing RI AG Neronha Proposes Public Option, Health Agency Overhaul
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, who leaves office in January, unveiled two proposals requiring legislative approval: a state-run public insurance option and a restructuring of the state's health and human services agencies. The public option, developed with Brown University researchers, would let individuals and employers buy state-administered plans comparable to state employee benefits, competing with private insurers while leaving Medicare and Medicaid intact; it is projected to cost about $398 million annually in subsidies and enroll roughly 134,000 people by 2028 if approved quickly. Neronha framed the plan partly as a hedge against anticipated Medicaid coverage losses, citing an estimated 33,600 Rhode Islanders who could lose Medicaid coverage under new federal work requirements and immigrant restrictions from H.R.1. His separate agency proposal would eliminate the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, replacing it with two cabinet-level agencies and a new independent long-term planning office.