Any pharmacy licensed in the state of Rhode Island which is not participating in an insurer’s restricted pharmacy network contract shall nevertheless have the right to provide prescription drug services to the insurer’s beneficiaries and recevie comparable reimbursement, provided that such non-network independent pharmacies agree to meet certain statutory terms and conditions, including accepting the insurer’s reimbursement terms applicable to other participating network pharmacies.

No HMO, group health insurer, medical service corporation, etc. that provides coverage for prescription drugs may require any person covered under the contract to obtain prescription drugs from a mail order pharmacy as a condition of obtaining benefits for the drugs.

Link to Existing Law: R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 27-29.1-5; R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 27-18-33; R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 27-19-26; R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 27-20-23; R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 27-41-38

While these laws do not provide traditional ‘Any Willing Provider Law’ protection, they do prohibit mandatory mail order and allow for ‘out-of-network’ coverage. However, the laws could be improved by creating stronger, actual ‘Any Willing Provider Law’ requirements, and by extending the applicability beyond just ‘pharmacies.’