---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFITS (Limits health insurance carriers that provide coverage for prescription insulin drugs used to treat diabetes to forty dollars ($40) for a copayment for a thirty (30) day supply of medically necessary insulin.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFITS (Limits health insurance carriers that provide coverage for prescription insulin drugs used to treat diabetes to forty dollars ($40) for a copayment for a thirty (30) day supply of medically necessary insulin.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 170"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 170 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Health Insurance", "Insurance", "Medical", "Prescription drugs"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell", "Goldin", "Goodwin", "Kallman", "Lawson", "Mack", "McCaffrey", "Miller", "Murray", "Valverde"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 18
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2021-02-05"
last_action: "2021-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a352ec09-0e49-49fb-aa08-eb49493bd60d"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "07d902fd3c26cb0276c20cd054dfc614e8d1a297dd288c34824e53cf6160e967"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island SB 170 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFITS (Limits health insurance carriers that provide coverage for prescription insulin drugs used to treat diabetes to forty dollars ($40) for a copayment for a thirty (30) day supply of medically necessary insulin.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **170 SUB B** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/SenateText21/S0170B.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **67–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage — **37–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bell — primary (person)
- Goldin — primary (person)
- Goodwin — primary (person)
- Kallman — primary (person)
- Lawson — primary (person)
- Mack — primary (person)
- McCaffrey — primary (person)
- Miller — primary (person)
- Murray — primary (person)
- Valverde — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-02-05** 02/05/2021 Introduced, referred to Senate Health and Human Services `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-12** 03/12/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/18/2021)
- **2021-03-18** 03/18/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-05-21** 05/21/2021 Scheduled for consideration (05/27/2021)
- **2021-05-26** 05/26/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-05-27** 05/27/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-28** 05/28/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/01/2021)
- **2021-06-01** 06/01/2021 Senate passed Sub A `passage`
- **2021-06-02** 06/02/2021 Referred to House Health & Human Services `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-11** 06/11/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/14/2021)
- **2021-06-11** 06/11/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-06-14** 06/14/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub B `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-22** 06/22/2021 Placed on House Calendar (06/23/2021)
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 House passed Sub B `passage`
- **2021-06-25** 06/25/2021 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/29/2021)
- **2021-06-29** 06/29/2021 Senate passed Sub B in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-06-29** 06/29/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-02** 07/02/2021 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a352ec09-0e49-49fb-aa08-eb49493bd60d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).