---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE (Prohibits insurance carriers from charging out-of-pocket expenses to the insured for expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic and mandates that all COVID-19 testing or vaccination is free.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE (Prohibits insurance carriers from charging out-of-pocket expenses to the insured for expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic and mandates that all COVID-19 testing or vaccination is free.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 877"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 877 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["COVID-19", "Fees", "Health & Safety", "Health Insurance", "Insurance"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Acosta", "Anderson", "DiMario", "Kallman", "Lawson", "Mendes", "Sosnowski", "Valverde"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-05-07"
last_action: "2021-07-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e8acb2f4-e491-4c0d-a1b5-e81bb9b0625b"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "af4c730877649b1ffaa84bb6677963b37dc57b8ab19bd0d450cee6e512106a33"
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 877 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE (Prohibits insurance carriers from charging out-of-pocket expenses to the insured for expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic and mandates that all COVID-19 testing or vaccination is free.)

## Version chain

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

1. **877 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/SenateText21/S0877A.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **35–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Acosta — primary (person)
- Anderson — primary (person)
- DiMario — primary (person)
- Kallman — primary (person)
- Lawson — primary (person)
- Mendes — primary (person)
- Sosnowski — primary (person)
- Valverde — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-05-07** 05/07/2021 Introduced, referred to Senate Health and Human Services `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-07** 05/07/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (05/13/2021)
- **2021-05-13** 05/13/2021 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)
- **2021-06-14** 06/14/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 Placed on the House Consent Calendar (06/25/2021)
- **2021-06-25** 06/25/2021 House passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-03** 07/03/2021 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/e8acb2f4-e491-4c0d-a1b5-e81bb9b0625b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).