Other key proposals in the package would also permanently codify 988, Rhode Island’s mental health crisis hotline, and require the state to continue funding it if federal support lapses. If passed, the package would also create a loan repayment and scholarship program designed to attract more primary care providers to the state.

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The proposals comes as Rhode Island’s health care system face mounting strain. Primary care offices and hospitals are grappling with staffing shortages years in the making, long wait times for appointments, and a growing concern that too few doctors are entering and remaining in the state’s workforce.

Earlier in the day, Governor Dan McKee signed an executive order that that is designed to bring in an additional $12 million in federal tax credits to Rhode Island to reduce health insurance premiums for HealthSourceRI customers earning between 200 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. The order will reduce premiums for most individual customers in that earning bracket by $500 annually; a family of four should see a reduction of approximately $1,600 annually, according to McKee’s office.

Here’s what to know about the Senate’s legislative package.

The creation of a medical school at the University of Rhode Island

Senator V. Susan Sosnowski, a South Kingstown Democrat, is sponsoring a bill that would direct $5 million from the state’s general revenue to the University of Rhode Island for the purpose of initiating the establishment of a medical school. Funds can be used, the bill’s language says, to hire a founding dean and senior leadership, to begin recruiting core faculty and administrative staff, prepare for the accreditation process, and plan curriculum. The bill also lays out a timeline: In fiscal year 2028, another $7 million will be directed to the school, and in fiscal year 2029, another $9 million will be directed.

A legislative commission in January voted unanimously to recommend that Rhode Island create a medical school at the URI as one of several steps to address the state’s shortage of primary care doctors. The commission also called for the state to provide $20 million in “initial seed funding” for the medical school in the state budget for fiscal year 2027, and $22.5 million in annual state funding beginning in 2029, when the first class of students would arrive.

It’s unclear what establishing a medical school at URI might cost. Lawmakers have not yet provided an estimate on the total cost of building a new school at URI, or how much the total accreditation process – typically costly – might be.

URI will have to submit a report to the governor and General Assembly leadership by Jan. 1, 2028, that details the use of the funds, progress toward accreditation, and a projected timeline and budget for subsequent phases of development.

Not all are convinced a medical school will help fix Rhode Island’s immediate issues.

“In terms of the problem we face today, that won’t fix it,” Attorney General Peter Neronha said during a Globe Rhode Island event in June 2025. “… that’s like telling the patient that the inexperienced doctor will be with you in a decade.”

New oversight of pharmacy benefit managers

A bill introduced by Senator Robert Britto, a Democrat who represents East Providence and Providence, would amend a current statute to set accountability and transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers — third-party administrators that are intermediaries between insurance plans, pharmacies, and drug manufacturers — and establish new rules for their interactions with pharmacies.

Another bill would establish a process for pharmacy benefit managers to obtain individual certificates of authority from the state Department of Business Regulation in order to operate.

A third bill, the Prescription Drug Savings and Transparency Act of 2026, would direct the state Office of the Auditor General to conduct a study of the performance and cost-effectiveness of the state’s current prescription drug management for the Medicaid program.

Invest in loan repayment and scholarship programs for primary care providers

Part of the state’s health care crisis is the lack of primary care providers. In recent years, multiple offices have closed, and patients are facing longer wait times.

Senate President Pro Tempore Hanna Gallo plans to amend the current Health Professional Loan Repayment Program to create a loan repayment program for primary care providers. The legislation, if passed into law, would allow for eligible physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners to receive two years of loan repayment assistance.

A bill introduced by Senator Lori Urso, a Pawtucket Democrat, would regulate artificial intelligence models and chatbots to prohibit the operation of any companions unless the provider has a protocol for addressing possible suicidal ideation, self-harm, other physical harm, or financial harm. It also provides requirements for warning notifications, and for enforcement by the state’s attorney general.

The bill would require developers to put safeguards in place to routinely remind users of AI tools for mental health care that they are not speaking to a human, provide guidance on where to seek care, and even stop the chat if the AI bot recognizes certain behaviors, such as suicidal ideation.

It’s unclear what enforcement might look like for these companies, many of which are based outside Rhode Island.

“We’re still learning about the technology as the technology is taking off,” said Urso. “We are trying to catch up and understand some of these issues.”

Urso also introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of AI companion models to assist in providing supplementary support in therapy or psychotherapy services where the client’s therapeutic session is recorded or transcribed, unless the patient or the patient’s parent, guardian or other legally authorized representative is informed and consents to the use.

Senate Health & Human Services Committee Chair Melissa Murray is introducing a bill that would codify the 988 program into state law, while additionally requiring the state to fully fund the program in the event the current federal funding lapses.

The 988 hotline is currently an around-the-clock crisis hotline that was established under the federal National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2022.

Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.