Rhode Island insurance laws
What Rhode Island has enacted on insurance, what each law requires, and what the bills still moving would do. Rhode Island is one of 51 states that enacted an insurance law in the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
8 new Rhode Island laws take effect in 2027
- Bills in scope
- 188bills in scope
- Past committee
- 65past committee
- Most recent action
- 26 June 2026most recent action
Insurance laws enacted in Rhode Island
27 insurance laws enacted in the Rhode Island Legislature in the 2025 and 2026 sessions, newest first. Each links to the legislature's own page.
What it requires: Insurers must not designate motor vehicles as total losses unless the cost to rebuild exceeds eighty-five percent of fair market value. Insurers must comply with specified claims practices including timely responses, reasonable investigations, proper appraisals by licensed unaffiliated appraisers for damages exceeding $2,500, and honoring direction-to-pay letters from insureds.
Auto insurance, Licensing, solvency and market conduct
- HB 8524AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- WORKERS' COMPENSATION--GENERAL PROVISIONSEnacted 23 June 2026
What it requires: Employers must promptly provide injured employees reasonable medical, surgical, dental, optical, and other treatment, nursing, hospital services, medicines, crutches, and apparatus as necessary to cure, rehabilitate, or relieve effects of injury. Employers must bear expenses of court-approved rehabilitation services and reasonable travel and lodging costs.
Workers' compensation, surety and specialty lines
- HB 7002AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- BOARD OF MEDICAL LICENSURE AND DISCIPLINEEnacted 22 June 2026
What it requires: Healthcare entities and health plans must pay complete written claims within 40 calendar days or complete electronic claims within 30 calendar days of receipt. They must not deny claims solely because the bill arose from a third-party claim, except workers' compensation claims. Physicians must not submit medical bills based solely on third-party claim status.
Health coverage and plan regulation, Licensing, solvency and market conduct
What it requires: Insurers must provide coverage for mobile response and stabilization services for children and youth up to age twenty-one experiencing acute mental health crises in individual or group health insurance contracts and policies delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026. Insurers must reimburse certified licensed providers at rates equal to or greater than the prevailing integrated state Medicaid rate on or after October 1, 2026.
Health coverage and plan regulation
What it requires: Pharmacy benefit managers must obtain a certificate of authority from the health insurance commissioner before operating in Rhode Island. Applicants must submit organizational documents, financial statements, business plans, and information about conflicts of interest, deceptive practices, and anti-competitive practices. Pharmacy benefit managers must annually report pricing discounts, rebates, fees, and compensation received from manufacturers.
Health coverage and plan regulation, Licensing, solvency and market conduct
- HB 8582AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- PHARMACY FREEDOM OF CHOICE--FAIR COMPETITION AND PRACTICESTakes effect 1 January 2027
What it requires: Pharmacy benefit managers must perform services with care, skill, prudence, diligence, and professionalism, and owe a duty of good faith and fair dealing to covered individuals and pharmacies. Beginning August 1, 2027, pharmacy benefit managers must disclose to insurers all pricing discounts, rebates, fees, contract terms, and conflicts of interest. Pharmacy benefit managers cannot prohibit pharmacists from disclosing prescription costs or therapeutically equivalent alternatives to patients.
Health coverage and plan regulation
What it requires: Issuers of Medicare supplement policies must make Plan A policies available to applicants under age 65 who are eligible for Medicare due to disability or end-stage renal disease, without medical underwriting, during the first six months after the applicant's initial Medicare Part B eligibility. Issuers must provide guaranteed issue rights to individuals with continuous credible coverage and no gaps exceeding 90 days during annual enrollment periods.
Health coverage and plan regulation
- HB 7066AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- CASUALTY INSURANCE GENERALLY -- LIMITATIONS ON POLICY CANCELLATIONS AND RENEWALSEnacted 19 June 2026
What it requires: Insurers must furnish written notice at least thirty days prior to renewal of any coverage reductions, elimination, or increased deductibles not requested by the insured for automobile liability and property damage insurance and homeowners or residential fire insurance. For homeowners and residential fire insurance, insurers must provide nonrenewal notice at least sixty days prior to renewal as of July 1, 2027. Notices must be captioned and itemized.
Auto insurance, Property, catastrophe and climate risk
What it requires: Property and casualty insurance companies must provide written notice at least fourteen months before canceling an insurance producer's authority or allowing their license to expire, and at least one hundred eighty days before modifying a contract. Companies must continue renewing expiring policies for fourteen months at the same compensation rate after cancellation notice.
Licensing, solvency and market conduct
- HB 7520AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- LIABILITY INSURANCE -- UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGETakes effect 1 April 2027
What it requires: Insurers must provide uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage in amounts equal to the insured's bodily injury liability limits, with minimums set by § 31-47-2(13)(i)(A). Insurers must offer underinsured motorist property damage coverage for private passenger automobiles. Named insureds may reject or reduce coverage in writing, subject to specified conditions and advisory notices.
Auto insurance
What it requires: Domestic insurers must comply with good corporate governance standards under section 27-1-2.1. Affiliates in insurance holding company systems must maintain fair and reasonable transaction terms, reasonable service charges, and proper record-keeping. If an insurer is in hazardous financial condition, the commissioner may require deposits or bonds from affiliated persons.
Licensing, solvency and market conduct
What it requires: At-fault insurance companies must provide rental vehicle coverage under an insured's private passenger automobile insurance policy for rented motor vehicles under 10,000 pounds for up to 60 consecutive days. At-fault carriers must extend rental coverage for at least 7 additional days after a total loss payment. At-fault insurers must provide a reasonably comparable rental vehicle at their expense based on local retail prices.
Auto insurance
What it requires: Insurers must not commit unfair claims practices including misrepresenting policy provisions, failing to investigate or settle claims promptly, refusing to honor directions to pay to repair shops or rental companies of the consumer's choice, failing to use repair manuals in their entirety, and designating vehicles total loss only when rebuild costs exceed 75-80% of fair market value.
Auto insurance, Licensing, solvency and market conduct
- HB 6079AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- LIABILITY INSURANCE -- RENTAL VEHICLE COVERAGEEnacted 5 July 2025
What it requires: Insurance companies must provide property damage liability coverage under private passenger automobile insurance policies for rented motor vehicles under 10,000 pounds for up to 60 consecutive days for named insureds and drivers on the policy. At-fault carriers must extend rental vehicle coverage for at least 7 additional days after total loss payment. Coverage must include collision, comprehensive losses, and loss of use.
Auto insurance
- HB 5120AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- BENEFIT DETERMINATION AND UTILIZATION REVIEW ACTTook effect 1 October 2025
What it requires: Insurers must not impose prior authorization requirements for admissions, items, services, treatments, or procedures ordered by in-network primary care providers, except for prescription drugs. This prohibition applies for three years as a pilot program. Insurers must submit annual reports to specified state officials by July 1 each year.
Health coverage and plan regulation
What it requires: Issuers of Medicare supplement policies must make Plan A policies available to applicants under age 65 who are eligible for Medicare due to disability or end-stage renal disease, without medical underwriting or health-based conditions. Issuers must provide guaranteed issue rights for standardized plans during specified enrollment periods. Policies cannot exclude benefits for preexisting conditions after six months from effective date.
Health coverage and plan regulation
- HB 5548AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- VOLUNTARY RESTRUCTURING OF SOLVENT INSURERSTook effect 1 January 2026
What it requires: Commercial run-off insurers must obtain commissioner approval for voluntary restructuring that would have no material adverse impact on policyholders, reinsureds, or claimants. Assumption reinsurers must be licensed and members of guarantee associations in all states where property is located or policyholders resided. The Rhode Island Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association must pay covered claims up to specified limits and assess member insurers proportionally.
Licensing, solvency and market conduct
What it requires: Pet insurers must disclose to consumers preexisting condition exclusions, hereditary disorders, congenital anomalies, chronic conditions, waiting periods, deductibles, coinsurance, annual or lifetime limits, and claim payment bases. Pet insurers must provide a fifteen-day free look period and cannot require veterinary examination for renewal. Insurance producers must complete training on preexisting conditions, waiting periods, and wellness program distinctions before selling pet insurance.
Licensing, solvency and market conduct
What it requires: When an insurance company and insured or claimant dispute a motor vehicle loss amount, either party may initiate an independent appraisal process. The insurer's appraiser must inspect the damaged vehicle within four business days or forfeit the right to inspect before repairs. The insurer must not engage in intimidation, coercion, threat, or misrepresentation of consumer rights.
Auto insurance, Licensing, solvency and market conduct
What it requires: Accident and sickness insurers, nonprofit hospital service corporations, nonprofit medical service corporations, and health maintenance organizations must provide coverage for hearing aids at one thousand seven hundred fifty dollars ($1,750) per individual hearing aid per ear every three years for individuals under nineteen years old, and seven hundred dollars ($700) per ear every three years for individuals nineteen years and older, effective January 1, 2026.
Health coverage and plan regulation
What it requires: Carriers and their intermediaries conducting on-site audits of pharmacy records must base findings on actual overpayment or underpayment without extrapolation unless required by law or agreed settlement, must use pharmacist consultation for clinical judgment audits, must provide fourteen days advance notice, must limit audits to one hundred fifty prescription claims, and must not conduct more than one on-site audit per pharmacy per twelve months unless an identified problem or fraud is suspected.
What it requires: Any health insurance carrier delivering, issuing for delivery, or renewing group health insurance contracts or group hospital or medical expense insurance policies in Rhode Island on or after January 1, 2023, must provide coverage for treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome, including intravenous immunoglobulin therapy. Health insurance carriers must collect and provide cost and savings data to the office of the health insurance commissioner.
Health coverage and plan regulation
- HB 6118AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE POLICIESTook effect 1 January 2026
What it requires: Every individual or group health insurance contract and every individual or group hospital or medical expense insurance policy delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in Rhode Island on or after January 1, 2026, must provide coverage for mobile response and stabilization services provided by certified providers, consistent with the mobile crisis model and without utilization review processes that limit timely access or fidelity to the model.
Health coverage and plan regulation
What it requires: Insurance groups, carriers, and companies must not assess premium surcharges or penalties against an insured for inquiring about policy terms. Insurers must not consider losses or incidents of bus drivers, law enforcement officers, or commercial vehicle drivers occurring during employment when establishing personal motor vehicle rates. Insurers must not penalize insureds age 65 or older solely for age if they have no chargeable accidents or violations within three years.
Licensing, solvency and market conduct
- HB 6066AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- TEMPORARY DISABILITY INSURANCE -- GENERAL PROVISIONSTook effect 1 January 2026
What it requires: Employees must contribute to temporary disability insurance at a rate equal to the fund cost rate times wages up to the taxable wage base, which increases to one hundred thousand dollars or the annual earnings needed to qualify for maximum benefits. Employers must maintain health benefits during caregiver leave and restore employees to equivalent positions upon leave expiration.
Workers' compensation, surety and specialty lines
- HB 6319AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- WORKERS' COMPENSATION -- GENERAL PROVISIONSTook effect 1 July 2025
What it requires: Special employers must require general employers to provide insurer-generated insurance coverage certification demonstrating Rhode Island workers' compensation and employer's liability coverage with no indebtedness before contracting for employee services. If the special employer fails to obtain and maintain this certification, the special employer becomes the employer for workers' compensation purposes.
Workers' compensation, surety and specialty lines
- HB 6315AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- INVESTMENTS BY DOMESTIC INSURANCE COMPANIESEnacted 18 June 2025
What it does: Repeals the provision that limits domestic insurance company investments in Schedule BA assets to ten percent of admitted assets, thereby removing this investment cap.
Licensing, solvency and market conduct
Insurance in Rhode Island, by topic
Health coverage and plan regulation
126 bills, 10 enacted. Enacted in 47 states.
Licensing, solvency and market conduct
35 bills, 11 enacted. Enacted in 47 states.
Auto insurance
18 bills, 7 enacted. Enacted in 29 states.
Property, catastrophe and climate risk
14 bills, 1 enacted. Enacted in 31 states.
Workers' compensation, surety and specialty lines
10 bills, 3 enacted. Enacted in 45 states.
AI and data in underwriting and claims
6 bills. Enacted in 12 states.
Life insurance and annuities
4 bills. Enacted in 24 states.
Insurance bills in Rhode Island
The bills not yet law, furthest along first, with what each would do.
27Enacted
38Past committee
123Introduced or inactive
188 bills in scope
Past committee
25 of 38 shown
What it would do: Amends motor vehicle appraisal procedures to require insurers to inspect damaged vehicles within four business days or forfeit inspection rights, establishes a binding appraisal and umpire process when disputes exceed 15%, and requires insurers to directly pay appraisers upon written direction from the insured or claimant.
What it would do: Requires health insurers to comply with federal mental health parity requirements, collect data to assess nonquantitative treatment limitations' impact on mental health and substance use disorder benefits, demonstrate non-discriminatory standards, and provide meaningful coverage in all benefit classifications where medical and surgical benefits are offered.
What it would do: Prohibits group health plans and health insurance issuers from imposing cost-sharing requirements for diagnostic and supplemental breast examinations, effective January 1, 2027.
What it would do: Requires health insurers to disclose artificial intelligence use in claims and coverage decisions to state regulators, maintain documentation for five years, and obtain provider approval before finalizing AI-driven denials of medically necessary care.
What it would do: Requires individual and group health insurance contracts delivered, issued, prescribed, or renewed in Rhode Island on or after January 1, 2027, to cover at least one type of buprenorphine for each form of administration with no copayment or deductible required every twelve-month plan year, except for plans paired with federally qualified health savings accounts.
What it would do: Amends casualty insurance rating law effective January 1, 2026, to prohibit insurers from considering employment-related losses for bus drivers, law enforcement officers, and commercial vehicle drivers when rating personal vehicle insurance, and permits zip code-based premium calculations segmented by municipality starting July 1, 2027.
What it would do: Requires individual and group hospital or medical expense insurance policies and plans delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, to cover FDA-approved scalp cooling systems for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, with specified exceptions.
What it would do: Requires health insurers and Medicaid to provide up to 365 days of FDA-approved prescription hormone therapy in a single dispensing beginning January 1, 2027, unless the enrollee requests less, the provider instructs otherwise, or it is a controlled substance.
What it would do: Requires individual and group health insurance carriers and the Rhode Island medical assistance program to develop plans providing adequate coverage of nonopioid and nonmedication pain management services, effective January 1, 2027, and prohibits applying more restrictive utilization review to nonopioid drugs than to opioid drugs.
What it would do: Prohibits dental plans and healthcare entities from requiring dentists to accept payment exclusively through methods that charge fees to release payment, including virtual credit cards, unless the dentist provides express written acceptance. Prohibits imposing fees for payment data access, processing, or issuance. Effective January 1, 2027.
What it would do: Prohibits insurers from retrospectively denying coverage for healthcare services when prior approval was obtained, except for fraud or material misrepresentation. For plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, prohibits prospective or concurrent review for prescription medicines treating alcohol or opioid use disorder containing methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone.
What it would do: Requires individual and group health insurance plans delivered or effective on or after January 1, 2027 to cover FDA-approved contraceptive drugs, devices, voluntary sterilization procedures, and related clinical services without cost-sharing, with exceptions for religious employers and certain limited benefit policies.
What it would do: Requires individual and group health insurance policies delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, to cover medically necessary hormonal and non-hormonal therapy for peri-menopause and menopause symptoms, including at least one FDA-approved treatment option and one hormonal replacement therapy option in each of four modalities: oral, transdermal, topical, and vaginal.
What it would do: Requires Rhode Island institutions of higher education to obtain affirmative written or electronic acceptance from students before enrolling them in health insurance plans and prohibits charging students who reject coverage, effective January 1, 2027.
What it would do: Requires health insurers to reimburse healthcare providers at least 65% of unpaid co-payments, co-insurance, and deductibles of $250 or more after 120 days of reasonable collection efforts, with annual submissions by May 1 and insurer payment within 120 days.
What it would do: Prohibits stock or mutual insurance companies that acquire 20% or greater of operating assets of nonprofit hospital service corporations, medical service corporations, or health maintenance organizations from filing proposed rates with state agencies, charging rates reflecting charitable foundation contributions, or paying less than the approved Medicaid rate for behavioral health services. Requires 30-day advance notice to the insurance commissioner with cost documentation before implementing rates. Effective January 1, 2027.
What it would do: Requires individual and group health insurance policies, hospital and medical expense plans, and HMO plans delivered or renewed on or after January 1, 2027 to cover post-acute care services for a minimum of seven days without prior authorization, though insurers must receive hospital notification and may initiate utilization review on day seven.
What it would do: Clarifies how condominium association insurance deductibles and unpaid losses are divided between associations and unit owners, requires unit owners to maintain insurance for improvements and deductible amounts, and allows boards to manage insurance proceeds for repairs.
What it would do: Requires health plans covering prescription inhalers and devices or equipment for administering inhaled medications to cap covered person cost-sharing at $25.00 per 30-day supply with no deductible, effective January 1, 2027.
What it would do: Requires health insurers, hospital service corporations, medical service corporations, and health maintenance organizations to cap out-of-pocket costs for insulin administration and glucose monitoring equipment and supplies at $25.00 per thirty-day supply or per item, with no annual deductible, effective January 1, 2027.
What it would do: Amends prescription drug benefit definitions and requires insurers and pharmacy benefit managers to include amounts paid by enrollees or third parties toward out-of-pocket maximums and cost sharing for drugs without generic equivalents or obtained through prior authorization, step therapy, or appeals, effective January 1, 2027.
What it would do: Requires group and individual health insurance plans to cover mental health and substance use disorder treatment without annual or lifetime dollar limits, with financial requirements and treatment limitations no more restrictive than medical coverage, and prohibits prior authorization for in-network mental health and substance use disorder services, effective January 1, 2026.
What it would do: Increases the Rhode Island Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association's covered claim limit to one million dollars for first-party property loss claims from single occurrences for insolvencies after January 1, 2026, and establishes the Strengthen Rhody Homes program to provide grants for residential property hardening against hurricanes and catastrophic events.
What it would do: Requires individual and group health insurance plans delivered or renewed on or after January 1, 2026 to cover certified professional midwife services within their scope of practice, without requiring supervision or referral, and mandates insurers report utilization and cost data annually to the health insurance commissioner.
What it would do: Requires property and casualty insurance companies to give insurance producers 14 months' notice before canceling their authority and 180 days' notice before modifying contracts, and mandates continued policy renewal at the same compensation rate for 14 months after cancellation notice, treating any compensation changes as contract modifications.
Showing the 25 furthest along of 161. Subscribers see all of them, filtered and searchable. Bill titles link to the Rhode Island Legislature's own page.
What counts as insurance legislation
In scope: Health coverage and plan regulation; auto; property and catastrophe; life and annuities; aI and data in underwriting; workers' compensation and specialty lines; and licensing, solvency and market conduct.
Questions
Does Rhode Island have an insurance law?
Yes. Rhode Island enacted 27 insurance laws in the 2025 and 2026 sessions, among them HB 7866, HB 8524 and HB 7002. Each is listed on this page with what it requires.
When do Rhode Island's insurance laws take effect?
HB 8579 on 1 January 2027, HB 8582 on 1 January 2027, HB 7520 on 1 April 2027, HB 5120 on 1 October 2025 and HB 5548 on 1 January 2026. The others have no single date in their text.
Which insurance bills are moving in Rhode Island?
38 bills not yet law have passed a committee or a chamber, the furthest along SB 3365 (passed chamber), HB 7946 (passed committee) and SB 2032 (passed chamber).
What does Rhode Island legislate on most in insurance?
Health coverage and plan regulation (126 bills), Licensing, solvency and market conduct (35 bills) and Auto insurance (18 bills).
Are these summaries reviewed by a lawyer?
No. Which bills count as Insurance bills, and the line on what each law requires or each bill would do, are drafted by software from the bill's own text and not reviewed by an attorney. Every bill links to the legislature's own record: read the text before relying on it. The list covers bills from the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
Other practice areas in Rhode Island
- AI in Rhode Island23
- Alcohol in Rhode Island27
- Cannabis in Rhode Island16
- Children's Online Safety in Rhode Island8
- Cybersecurity in Rhode Island6
- Data center and energy in Rhode Island4
- Data Privacy in Rhode Island28
- Employment in Rhode Island94
- Healthcare in Rhode Island243
- Intellectual Property in Rhode Island5
- Packaging and PFAS in Rhode Island19
- Payments and fintech in Rhode Island12
- Rental housing in Rhode Island54
- Tobacco and nicotine in Rhode Island7
- Transportation in Rhode Island10
- All jurisdictions
Insurance legislation in other jurisdictions
52 more currently hold bills in this tracker
- New Jersey539
- New York481
- Texas314
- Massachusetts246
- Connecticut230
- Louisiana214
- Maryland208
- Missouri197
- Hawaii190
- Mississippi187
- Florida185
- West Virginia175
- Illinois174
- Virginia158
- Montana155
- Oklahoma152
- Pennsylvania152
- California146
- Michigan137
- Iowa127
- Georgia112
- Kentucky109
- Tennessee99
- Indiana93
- Arizona91
- South Carolina86
- North Carolina80
- Minnesota78
- Oregon74
- Ohio70
- Utah70
- Arkansas68
- Washington67
- Kansas66
- Maine66
- New Hampshire63
- Nebraska60
- New Mexico59
- Colorado56
- Nevada54
- Congress48
- Wisconsin48
- Idaho47
- Alaska38
- Alabama32
- Delaware30
- North Dakota29
- Vermont29
- South Dakota21
- District of Columbia8
- Puerto Rico6
- Wyoming4
Know when Rhode Island's insurance law changes
An alert when a bill moves, and one report a month on what changed in every state and Congress.