New Hampshire Bill Would Ease Action On Insurance Market Upheaval
Monitor staff
Facing a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and potential premium hikes next year, New Hampshire lawmakers are proposing to give state regulators broad authority to quickly respond.
“In the event that we have a meltdown of the health care insurance currently provided under the ACA, we have some contingency to take care of citizens in our state,” said Wolfeboro Rep. William Marsh during a public hearing on proposed legislation Tuesday. “I would hope that it is not necessary, but I think all of us can honestly say we do not know what is going to happen.”
Under the measure, the state insurance department can work with the New Hampshire Health Plan to take steps meant to maintain coverage and stabilize prices in the individual market. Those could include reviving a high-risk pool or seeking waivers from the federal government to get money, officials said. Gov. Chris Sununu said in a letter that it is not his intent to waive requirements that insurers cover pre-existing conditions. Any changes would need a public hearing and sign-off from a legislative oversight committee.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee endorsed the amendment unanimously Tuesday, saying the state should be able to act fast should anything happen. House Bill 469 now goes to the full Senate for a vote, and it already has the backing of Sununu, a Republican.
Much is in limbo as Congress debates whether to approve the American Healthcare Act. The uncertainty comes at a time when insurers in New Hampshire are trying to set their rates for 2018. Preliminary estimates are due at the start of June, but won’t be made public until later in the summer.
The insurance department said it wants to ensure carriers remain in the market and that prices stay stable.
“It’s the end of the Legislative session, and we still don’t know what is happening; we don’t want to be caught flat-footed,” said Jenny Patterson, a department attorney. “We want to be in as good a position as we can to stabilize our markets if there is any opportunity to do so.”
More than 100,000 residents are covered in the individual market. The New Hampshire Union Leader reported Sunday that one insurer estimates rates may rise by an average of 44 percent, an increase driven largely by expanded Medicaid and the opioid and mental health crises.
A number of market factors are putting pressure on insurers, including skyrocketing pharmaceutical costs, higher numbers of people seeking care and across-the-board losses incurred by carriers last year, according to experts.
“Those are indicators that carriers are going to be pricing for all these things – we don’t know what they are going to be pricing, but they are going to be pricing for it,” said Insurance Department Commissioner Roger Sevigny. “They are not in the business to lose money.”
(Allie Morris can be reached at 369-3307 or [email protected].)
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