Rhode Island § 23-67-2 - The Rhode Island Research and Treatment Fund for Uninsured and Underinsured Women Stricken with Cancer

§ 23-67-2. The Rhode Island research and treatment fund for breast and cervical cancer — Uses of the fund.

(a) There is hereby established a fund to be called the Rhode Island research and treatment fund for breast and cervical cancer which shall be administered by the general treasurer in accordance with the same laws and fiscal procedures as the general funds of the state. The general treasurer is authorized to accept any grant, devise, bequest, donation, gift, services in kind, assignment of money, bonds or other valuable securities for deposit in and credit of the fund. Taxpayer funds shall not be co-mingled as deposited in this fund.

(b) The monies received under this chapter shall be made available by the treasurer annually by September 30 to qualified organizations and shall be distributed equally among all qualified organizations which have been certified by the department of health for the funding year.

(c) Upon distribution to qualified organizations, the monies shall be used exclusively for prevention research and for further diagnostic testing and treatment.

(d) Any eligible organization which seeks qualified organization status for a funding year shall submit an application to the department of health not later than July 15 of the year for which they seek qualified organization status. The application must include:

(1) The specific nature of the services the eligible organization is proposing to provide and which type of cancer said services are proposed to be provided to;

(2) Eligible services that the eligible organization has provided in the past year or is currently providing and the annual cost of the services;

(3) Whether the monies sought under this chapter will be used to fund new or existing programs for eligible services; and

(4) Any other information the department of health deems necessary to facilitate the purposes of this chapter.

(e) Upon receipt of the annual application from eligible organizations as provided in this section, the director of the department of health shall review each application to determine if it complies with the intent and requirements of this chapter. Upon a finding by the director of the department of health that the application so complies, the director of the department of health shall certify that the eligible organization has been designated as a qualified organization for the funding year. The director of the department of health shall provide notice of approval or denial of certification not later than September 15 to each eligible organization which has submitted an annual application.

(f) The director of the department of health is hereby authorized to promulgate any rules or regulations and prescribe forms necessary to facilitate the provisions of this chapter.