Woonsocket Radio News Room

 

Senate passes Cano’s bill to cover kidney disease treatment for all Rhode Island residents

 

            STATE HOUSE – The Senate today approved legislation to cover treatment for Rhode Islanders with end stage kidney disease, regardless of their immigration status.

            “Individuals suffering through end stage kidney disease go through their lives with pain and torment, and their only relief comes from dialysis and kidney transplants.  For many in our state, these difficult times are even worse because they cannot access the live-saving treatment needed due to their undocumented status.  To let residents of our state suffer and die from end stage kidney disease solely due to their immigration status is simply wrong and I believe we as a state are much better than that.  This bill will help our family, friends and neighbors suffering from this deadly disease, which is the right and moral thing to do,” said Senator Cano (D-Dist. 8, Providence).

            The legislation (2024-S 2397) directs the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to provide dialysis treatment, as well as kidney transplants, to Rhode Island residents suffering from end stage kidney disease who do not qualify for full Medicaid due to their immigration status. This applies to both undocumented residents and non-citizens who qualify for Medicaid but have been present in the United States for under five years, making them only eligible for coverage of an “emergency medical condition.”

            The bill now heads to the House for consideration where Rep. David Morales (D-Dist. 7, Providence) has introduced the legislation (2024-H 7398).

 

 

Democratic leaders in Minnesota are announcing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit is over the surge of additional ICE agents to Minneapolis following the deadly shooting involving an ICE agent. The state's Attorney General Keith Ellison says the agents are untrained and are making illegal arrests, causing chaos, and targeting people based on the color of their skin. Protests in Minneapolis have been ongoing since the shooting in Minneapolis last week.        The Supreme Court will hear arguments tomorrow on cases involving transgender athlete bans in two states. The justices will consider challenges out of Idaho and West Virginia on whether states can ban transgender girls should from participating in girls' and women's sports. The decisions on those cases will impact similar bans already enacted in about half of the U.S.        Arizona Senator Mark Kelly is suing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over punishment for a video where he told service members to refuse illegal orders. The Democrat filed the federal civil lawsuit in the U. S. District Court in DC on Monday. Hegseth called the video "seditious" and said the Pentagon initiated retirement grade determination proceedings that would result in a lost of pay. Kelly argues Hegseth's actions violate numerous constitutional guarantees and have no basis in statute.        The Eastern U.S. is bracing for a mid-week snowstorm. The Tennessee River Valley, the Carolinas, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast could all see significant snowfall totals. Meanwhile, arctic air is set to travel down from Canada starting today, which could create the right environment for large snow totals.        President Trump is denying any knowledge of the Justice Department's criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve. Trump told NBC News Sunday he didn't know anything about it, but that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was not very good at the Fed, and he's not very good at building buildings. Powell said the potential indictment focuses on renovations to Federal Reserve office buildings and called it the latest attempt to influence the Fed and its interest-rate decisions.        The first trailer is out for Lee Cronin's "The Mummy" ahead of its April 17th release. The film is a reboot of the horror franchise and follows a journalist searching for his daughter, who disappeared in the desert. When she reappears eight years later, something isn't quite right with her. In 2024, Cronin said this film will be unlike any "Mummy" movie "you ever laid eyeballs on before."       

Old News Archives