AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION .

Funding for Rhode Island transplant patients

Effective upon passage, the law updates the revenue source for Rhode Island’s organ transplant fund to state law § 44-30-2.5. The fund also accepts public and private gifts, grants, and donations; no funding amount is specified. It helps Rhode Island residents and their families pay transplant costs that are not reimbursed, including hospital and medical care. Maintenance drug payments are capped at 50% of average wholesale price or 50% of unreimbursed costs, whichever is less. Families can receive help with out-of-state living costs during the transplant for up to 60 days. That help is capped at state employee daily rates for lodging and meals. Recipients earning no more than $12,000 yearly can get help meeting Medicaid spend-down requirements—the costs they must cover to qualify. They must repay that help over six months in six equal monthly payments. Applications cannot be accepted until the fund’s principal reaches $15,000, and the treasurer must publicly announce that milestone. Residents already taking covered maintenance drugs can then apply, although the fund otherwise operates prospectively. Assistance is not guaranteed, and the fund cannot run a deficit. The Department of Human Services administers the fund and issues rules after consulting the treasurer. The treasurer invests the money and pays approved department vouchers; fund money is reserved for the stated purposes.