Issue Position: Healthcare

Issue Position

In budget after budget, Rhode Island has made deep cuts to Medicaid. After hundreds of millions of dollars slashed from the program, we've seen heartrending suffering in our state. Provider after provider has closed, including Park View Nursing Home on Dexter Park. Memorial Hospital has gone under, and others are teetering on the edge of collapse. Sam believes it is time to stand up and resist. Sam believes it is time to repeal the Medicaid cuts, and it is a major reason he voted no on the 2019 budget, which contained yet more cuts to Medicaid.

During the height of the COVID crisis, Sam called for the General Assembly to convene remotely to appropriate emergency funding for public health, and he released a plan to cover those investments at no cost to the state by creatively leveraging federal funds. Sam strongly supported the Governor's social distancing protections, which saved lives from this pandemic.

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Sam believes that healthcare is a human right. No Rhode Islander should have to worry that they won't be able to afford care. That's why Sam introduced a Rhode Island Medicare for All bill, a resolution to study single-payer in Rhode Island, and a resolution to push congress to pass Medicare for All in 2019. He is continuing to fight for universal healthcare as your State Senator.

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