By Elizabeth Roberts on
1/28/2010 10:48 AM
Earlier this week, the RI Attorney General and Blue Cross Blue Shield reached an agreement for approval of a 9.5 percent rate increase for individual, or direct-pay, health insurance plans—the original proposed rate increase was 10.2 percent.
I don’t think the 0.7 percent reduction is a good agreement for the people of Rhode Island, and in written testimony on the proposed rate increase, I requested that the application for the increase be rejected entirely....
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
1/20/2010 4:33 PM
Yesterday I voiced my vigorous opposition to another request for a
double-digit insurance rate hike by Blue Cross—this time for direct-pay
plans, or those bought by individuals directly from an insurance
company. A 10.2 percent rate hike would affect those who can afford it
least—those who don’t get insurance through their work and the
unemployed—and again underscores the pressing need to find meaningful
ways to curb health-care costs.
Early last summer, a broad...
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
1/15/2010 12:41 PM
How often do you get something vitally important for free?
Rhode Island adults can obtain the H1N1 flu vaccine free of charge at a series of public clinics around the state, beginning tomorrow (Saturday) at 10 a.m. at Mt. Pleasant High School in Providence. The only requirement: that you must be 18 or over. You don’t have to live in the community where the clinic is held, and no insurance or ID is needed.
The clinics come at a key time. Though the...
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
1/13/2010 1:21 PM
This week I’m expanding my Buy Local RI message to include the state government: I’m introducing legislation today that would make Rhode Island companies first among equals when bidding for Rhode Island state contracts and prevent out-of-state companies from receiving unfair competitive advantages.
At the Rhode Island Economic Summit last week, a man who owns a small business told the audience about his frustration...
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
1/6/2010 12:28 PM
As 2010 gets under way, Rhode Islanders know that we all must commit to making it a year of rebuilding our economically troubled state, with the creation of jobs our highest priority.
Yesterday we took an important step forward with the appointment of Keith Stokes as interim director of the RI Economic Development Corporation.
I’ve had the privilege to work with Keith on a number of occasions, and he’s an excellent choice. With his background as...
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
12/18/2009 1:42 PM
We heard today that Rhode Island’s unemployment rate dropped to 12.7
percent in November, though our economy still lost jobs. While it’s
good news the rate dropped, clearly we have a way to go to a recovery.
What
struck me most this week were two different polls released that really
brought home the very human toll behind these numbers.
A New
York Times/CBS News poll indicated that half of those who had lost a
job had suffered from depression and/or anxiety. Job loss had an impact
beyond the jobholder: about 40 percent noticed behavior changes in
their children after the job loss. More than half borrowed money from friends or relatives to help them get by. More than half have cut back on medical treatment to save money.
Closer to home, a Brown poll showed that 75 percent of respondents had a friend or family member recently lose a job ...
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
12/8/2009 4:27 PM
I’m happy to report that Operation Holiday Cheer appears to have succeeded in its aim to spread good tidings to troops from Rhode Island serving overseas. My office has been hearing from a number of Rhode Islanders who’ve received the care packages that we collected donations for and shipped in mid-November.
Here’s an excerpt from one letter: “A huge THANK YOU for all of those excellent care packages!! They were filled with lots of great stuff, and really put some big smiles on a lot of faces out here! It really means a lot and we just can't thank you enough, or put into words how good it feels to be thought of, especially around the holidays when many of us are missing home the most. … GO PATRIOTS!”
It’s clear from the words and the photos they sent that it does mean so much that we are thinking of our troops who are serving their country at the holidays.
You can still show your support by ...
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
12/2/2009 5:18 PM
Last night we had a great campaign event in Edgewood, my neighborhood in Cranston, with about 150 in attendance. It was a wonderful way to cap several months of campaign house parties around the state, bringing together neighbors and friends all over Rhode Island. It’s great to be in the Edgewood/Pawtuxet Village area for an event near the holidays—a coming home of sorts for me. These are the people who have supported me since I first ran for State Senate back in 1996, and I wouldn’t be lieutenant governor today without them. They have helped form the backbone of my political support. It’s also a reminder of how close we all are as neighbors in Rhode Island, with our ...
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
11/24/2009 12:53 PM
This morning I began preparing for Thanksgiving. Like families
throughout Rhode Island, I am looking forward to my family gathering
around the dining room table, enjoying a meal and pausing to
acknowledge all that we have to be so thankful for.
I have spent a lot of this past year traveling around Rhode
Island and meeting small business people who are committed to our state
as part of Buy Local RI. Many of them are farmers, and I'm extending my thanks to them by serving my family a truly Rhode Island Thanksgiving.
My
turkey was raised at Pat's Pastured in Saunderstown; my potatoes,
courtesy of DEM director Mike Sullivan, who brought me potatoes grown
on his land; squash from Barden Farms in North Scituate and brussels
sprouts from Wishing Stone Farm in Little Compton; and finally, apples
for my pie from Hill Orchards in Johnston ...
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By Elizabeth Roberts on
11/19/2009 12:05 PM
On Friday, November 20, from 8 to 9:30 a.m., I will bring together members of the RI Office of Economic Recovery and Reinvestment and small business owners with the goal of making the federal stimulus easier to understand and access for our state’s small businesses.
As I’ve conducted Main Street tours in the past few months as part of my Buy Local RI initiative, I’ve talked with many small business owners who have questions about the federal stimulus package and how they can best take advantage of stimulus money available here in Rhode Island. This meeting will give them an opportunity to pose their questions about the stimulus directly to the state office charged with having the answers.
Businesses can find out about available stimulus funds for energy and transporation initiatives as well as ...
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