On Oct. 1, newly imposed Medicaid legislation under H.R.1, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, went into effect and Medicaid coverage for immigrants of various statuses was repealed across the country. A team of students from the School of Public Health are working to inform Rhode Islanders about the changes and help them navigate new regulations.
The People, Place and Health Collective at the SPH — in partnership with Rhode Island Medicaid — launched the Stay Covered Medicaid Fellows initiative last month. SPH Research Associate Abdullah Shihipar, who oversees the program, said its primary aims are for fellows to provide “education” and “assistance” regarding the newly imposed regulations.
“As Rhode Island’s only school of public health, we have a special responsibility to put the knowledge, expertise and resources of our school to work addressing the public health challenges facing our communities,” SPH Dean Francesca Beaudoin PhD’17 wrote in an email to The Herald.
According to Shihipar, the fellowship involves running workshops and presentations, canvassing across Providence and tabling at community events.
“They’ve distributed hundreds of flyers at this point, to the point where I’ve passed businesses on Broad Street, and I’ve seen the flyers,” Shihipar said. “They’ve really covered a lot of ground.”
Fellows are also working with R.I. organizations that provide aid to populations affected by the Medicaid changes, such as Dorcas International and Clinica Esperanza, Shihipar said.
“We’re basically providing the administrative and one-on-one support for people who are impacted and organizations that are impacted, and understanding the nuances of what these changes mean for, say, an individual’s ability to to receive healthcare” said fellow Aidan Choi ’26 GS.
“We are at these organizations weekly. People have grown to recognize us and hopefully trust us to be able to listen to their concerns and needs,” Choi added.
Fellows spend up to 15 hours a week in their roles. They have undergone “pretty extensive training,” according to fellow Pierre Jolin ’26 GS, who has recently begun working at Dorcas International.
Jolin said that fellows were taught the policy details of the changes and what can be done to help impacted individuals. The fellows also became certified application counselors, which allows them to assist individuals navigating Medicaid applications, renewals and supplements.
“We’re getting people equipped with the information first, and then the second piece is actually being a resource to help patients one-on-one navigate their options,” Jolin added.
Shihipar noted that some individuals that have turned to the fellows for help, thinking they had lost Medicaid access, are actually still eligible. “Things are so confusing,” he said. The fellows also work to educate families that have mixed documentation statuses and age groups and are thus affected by the changes differently.
H.R.1 will also introduce new work requirements for Medicaid beginning 2027. Under the legislation, only those who complete at least 80 hours per month of community engagement, such as work or education, or make at least $580 per month, will qualify for Medicaid.
It is estimated this change will put 24,600 Rhode Islanders at risk of lost coverage.
According to Professor of Epidemiology Brandon Marshall, the founding director of the People, Place and Health Collective, another aspect of the fellowship program will be training “employers or sponsoring organizations” on how to certify the hours from qualifying activities or community engagement once the work requirements are implemented.
“The changes to Medicaid are not so much fundamental restructuring as instituting a ton more paperwork and requirements. And so, the goal is to help people meet these requirements or to approve various exemptions,” Marshall added.
Marshall also noted the unique benefits of having college students, as opposed to state officials, involved in community activism.
“We have students who speak multiple languages. They are from Rhode Island, or they have experience doing this kind of community engaged work, and so they can be on the ground and engage directly with people who are going to be impacted by these changes in ways that would be difficult for government staff to do,” he said.
Maxwell Silver is a senior staff writer covering health and environment.
