New Hampshire echos about Medicaid Expansion

Jerry Knirk: Re-authorization of Medicaid expansion

Commentary echos about the New Hampshire Medicaid expansion:

Expanded Medicaid makes New Hampshire a healthier state

CONCORD, NH ~ The most important bill currently in the New Hampshire Legislature re-authorizes New Hampshire’s Medicaid expansion.

Jerry Knirk ~ Medicaid expansion came about as part of the Affordable Care Act. The ACA included expansion of Medicaid to include nearly all low-income individuals with incomes up to 138 percent of poverty ($28,180 for a family of three in 2017) with the individual exchange covering those above. It was intended to be nation-wide, but a 2012 Supreme Court ruling made Medicaid expansion optional for each state. Initially, the federal government paid 100 percent of the Medicaid expansion with that percentage dropping to 90 percent by 2020, requiring some state funding. In states that did not expand Medicaid, there is a coverage gap between traditional Medicaid and the exchange, leaving many uninsured.

New Hampshire chose to expand Medicaid two years at a time, requiring re-authorization every two years. Re-authorization in 2016 was accomplished with HB 1696. My close attention to this process in 2016 motivated me to run for the House of Representatives. SB 313 has been my all-consuming passion for the past few weeks, explaining the lack of my columns recently.

The Berlin (New Hampshire) Sun~ echo opinion letter

A few weeks ago, the N.H. Senate voted 17-7 in support of SB 313, which reauthorizes New Hampshire’s Medicaid expansion program. Now, the bill has moved to the N.H. House, where our representatives will decide whether it will continue. The hearings in the N.H. Senate and House were teeming with advocates including patients, health-care providers, business leaders, clerics and many more who — one after the other — stood up before a large room to tell their first-hand experiences of how this program changes lives in a positive way.

In 2014, New Hampshire expanded eligibility for Medicaid to include a larger portion of the state’s population; more than 130,000 Granite Staters have accessed health coverage as a result. This expansion, however, is set to expire at the end of 2018 if not reauthorized. Senate Bill 313 is one of the most important pieces of legislation in the 2018 session because it impacts the health of our friends, neighbors and economy. 

A Granite State poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center and published a few weeks ago shows that 59 percent of Granite Staters support Medicaid expansion reauthorization, and nearly half of Granite Staters say they would be less likely to vote for their state senator if he or she voted against it.