Raimondo declines to sign bill to protest R.I. budget cut

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Governor Raimondo has allowed a bill to become law without her signature, using the legislation as an opportunity to express her distaste with the General Assembly's decision to cut $700,000 from the budget of the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner.

The bill requires the office to issue a report to the House and Senate by Jan. 1 recommending guidelines for a system that would give patients electronic access to their medical claims data.

"Although I support this legislation, I am concerned about OHIC's ability to implement it," Raimondo wrote Thursday in letters to House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed. "As a result of this budget cut, OHIC will have limited capacity to take on additional projects. In fact, OHIC faces the difficult task of choosing projects to put on hold."

The OHIC is responsible for protecting consumers from excessive health insurance rate increases. It is also responsible for the oversight of the hundreds of insurance policies created under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

Read more: http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20160715/raimondo-declines-to-sign-bill-to-protest-ri-budget-cut