WOONSOCKET – U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius helped kick off a model program in health care reform Friday during a ceremony at Thundermist Health Center.
Sebelius was in town to launch the $15.9 million Beacon Communities program, designed to reduce costs and improve health care outcomes by using computers to manage information better. It's just one of 17 different Beacon demonstration programs HHS has established across the nation at a cost of some $220 million, money that comes from the federal stimulus package championed by President Obama.
PROVIDENCE – The pomp and circumstance of the opening of the General Assembly has faded away and now lawmakers are settling into the routine of legislating.
Two of the hot-button social issues expected to be near the top of the legislative agenda this session – gay marriage and illegal immigration – are already percolating in the Assembly’s first week. Woonsocket Rep. Jon Brien is playing a lead role in both.
