Your Life, Your Rights: Healthcare

Everyone has the right to healthcare. This includes physical health and mental health services. 

Rights to Healthcare

  1. Be treated with dignity and respect
  2. Have free access to an interpreter
  3. Have the same treatment options as everyone else
  4. Have the same access to healthcare as everyone else
  5. Make an appointment with your doctor when you need to 
  6. Talk to your doctor about starting or stopping treatment
  7. Make decisions about your health
  8. Get health education to help you make choices
  9. Get emergency care when you need it even if you can’t pay
  10. To have your personal health record kept private
  11. You decide who can have access to your health information
  12. You can get your medical records at anytime 

Resources

To help people learn about their rights to healthcare, BHDDH created two resources. The first is a one-page flyer, and the second is a guidebook.

Healthcare Flyer

The Healthcare flyer is a one-page document. It can be used as a factsheet on healthcare rights.

  1. Your Life, Your Rights Healthcare Flyer (PDF)

Healthcare Easy Read Guidebook

The Healthcare easy read guidebook is a longer document. This document explains the information on the one-page flyer in more detail. 

  1. Your Life, Your Rights: Healthcare Easy Read Guidebook (PDF)

Right Protection

Contact the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office to file a healthcare complaint by phone at (401) 274-4400 x1896 or online at www.riag.ri.gov/