Minuteman’s move causes headache for NH medical supply firm

June 27--News that Minuteman Health will stop offering individual and small group health insurance plans in New Hampshire has created a bit of a headache for David Blanchfield, president and owner of Minuteman Medical.

The company, located at 350 Harvey Road, has been around since 1998, providing disposable medical supplies delivered directly to the doorstep.

"I have thousands of patients, some of whom are confused about what's going on," Blanchfield said after his company started getting phone calls from customers asking if he was going out of business.

He wants to get the word out that his company is not affiliated in any way with the Massachusetts-based health insurance company, whose Friday announcement was widely publicized in media throughout the state.

Minuteman Health is one of the four health insurance companies providing coverage in New Hampshire through the online exchange at HealthCare.gov.

The company announced on Friday that it was pulling out of the New Hampshire market in 2018 due to financial constraints, but hopes to reorganize and return under a different corporate structure.

Minuteman Medical, on the other hand, is doing quite well in New Hampshire, according to Blanchfield.

With eight full-time and one part-time employee, the company arranges home delivery by common carriers for all sorts of medical supplies, and finds that the demand is growing. So when the phones started ringing on Monday morning, he became concerned.

"There was nothing inaccurate about the reporting," he said. "Some people don't read past the headline, I guess."

It's not as if the phones have been ringing off the hook.

"By mid-morning we'd received about half a dozen calls," Blanchfield said. "That's not a lot, but if six called, it probably means 60 are concerned. I think there's some confusion, but I don't think it's catastrophic."

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