Rhode Island House Bill H8308

Rhode Island 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/18/26
• Refer: 3/18/26

Caption

RELATING TO INSURANCE -- PRIMARY CARE CONTRACTING GOOD FAITH ACT

Summary

H8308 would create a new chapter in Rhode Island insurance law called the Primary Care Contracting Good Faith Act. It requires commercial insurers, managed care organizations, and Medicare Advantage plans to negotiate in good faith with primary care physician practices at least once every 24 months. Those negotiations must explicitly take into account rising operating costs, inflation, staff wages, malpractice premiums, and other overhead expenses. The bill also bars payers from refusing to negotiate or from declining to enter or renew a contract solely because of a practice’s size, ownership structure, patient panel size, or Medicaid volume. In addition, it directs the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner to keep a negotiation request log and publish annual summary reports, while complaints would be handled under OHIC’s existing authority. The act would take effect 90 days after passage.

Impact

The bill would add a new insurance chapter to the Rhode Island General Laws and expand the regulatory role of the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner by requiring recordkeeping, reporting, and complaint review related to primary care contracting. It would affect commercial insurers, managed care organizations, and Medicare Advantage plans, as well as primary care physician practices seeking contract negotiations or renewals. The measure is intended to strengthen bargaining conditions for primary care providers and limit payer practices that could disadvantage smaller practices or those with higher Medicaid participation.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes, the overall sentiment appears supportive and policy-driven, with the sponsors framing the measure as a way to improve fairness in primary care contracting. The bill’s structure suggests an effort to address provider reimbursement pressures and contracting barriers rather than to impose broad new rate-setting rules. No formal opposition, amendments, or recorded vote history is available in the provided materials.

Contention

The main points of potential contention are the bill’s mandate that payers negotiate at least every 24 months and its prohibition on refusing to negotiate based on practice size, ownership structure, patient panel size, or Medicaid volume. Insurers and managed care organizations may view these provisions as limiting contracting discretion and increasing administrative burden, while primary care practices are likely to support them as protections against unequal bargaining power. Another possible point of debate is the requirement that negotiations explicitly consider cost inflation, wages, malpractice premiums, and overhead, which could be seen as either a necessary fairness standard or an indirect pressure on payment rates.