Rhode Island’s U.S. senators Saturday endorsed an overhaul of the nation’s troubled health-care system.

Reform will give Rhode Islanders better care for less money, said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse after a vote on the bill in the Senate.

But it won’t just benefit patients, added Sen. Jack Reed, who also issued a statement Saturday.

It will help the troubled state and national economy too, he said.

“These are difficult economic times, and we are doing everything we can to save and create jobs and ensure that families have access to quality, affordable health coverage,” Reed said. The reform bill not only addresses health-care needs but will “save Medicare from tipping towards insolvency” and “keep insurance companies honest and help American businesses of all sizes become more competitive in the global marketplace,” he said.

In recent months, Whitehouse has talked to Rhode Islanders about their health-care problems, often at community dinners.

When patients visit doctors, they are often at their most vulnerable, Whitehouse said during Saturday’s debate.

“Perhaps we don’t know what’s wrong with us, and imagine the worst. Perhaps we face a grim prognosis and are desperate for hopeful news about treatment. Or perhaps we worry about what will happen to our loved ones, our children, our parents, and others who depend on us,” he said.

“An intelligent health-care system would treat these moments with care and delicacy. A humane health-care system would treat these people with reverence and respect,” Whitehouse said. “But too often, our health-care system treats the moments as a profit opportunity, and the patient as a commodity.”

pdavis@projo.com