Sununu opposes Trump moves against Obamacare

New Hampshire Union Leader

March 27-- Mar. 27--CONCORD -- Gov. Chris Sununu is no fan of the decision by the Trump Administration to seek a complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

He made that clear at a meeting of the Executive Council on Wednesday, as councilors were approving contracts with managed care organizations to run New Hampshire's Medicaid program over the next five years.

When asked by Democratic Councilor Michael Cryans if overturn of Obamacare would have an impact on the contracts, Sununu was direct.

"It would absolutely have an impact on this," he said. "It would be an upheaval of our entire system, not just this contract, but so much of what we do in health care. We don't want it to happen."

Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeffrey Meyers, standing nearby, agreed.

When Cryans asked Sununu if he would write to the president to register the state's opposition, Sununu listened politely, thanked Cryans and then moved to the next item on the agenda.

Democratic Councilor Andru Volinsky pressed the point further.

"Following up on the question from councilor Cryans, there are 21 states who have intervened, with both Republican and Democratic legislatures, and I would also ask you to consider intervening in the court case, opposing invalidation of the ACA."

The Justice Department, in a two-sentence letter to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Monday, said it backed the December ruling by a Texas federal judge that the Affordable Care Act violated the U.S. Constitution because it required people to buy health insurance.

The judge's ruling is being appealed to the circuit court, with appeals likely to go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The good news is that if there is going to be a dismantling of the ACA, it's not going to happen tomorrow," said Sununu after the council meeting. "It would be an extreme change to our system without a doubt, something we are not in favor of."

Sununu said expanded Medicaid in particular, a key part of the ACA, has been of great benefit to New Hampshire, at virtually no cost to state taxpayers.

"When you look into those contracts and the amount of services both the expansion population is receiving and our ability to provide services in a variety of other areas like the opioid crisis, completely dismantling the ACA would have a shocking effect to our system," Sununu said, but he stopped short of saying he would write the letter requested at the council meeting.

"I know councilor Volinsky brought that up, but I think the time to intervene has actually passed," Sununu said. "But this is something that's going to go on for some time ... We've made our position on it very clear to the administration that the system we have in place is something we support and we'd like to see it maintained going forward."

The Senate voted 22-1 on Wednesday to pass SB 4, which enshrines in state law key provisions of the ACA, including health insurance coverage protections for people with pre-existing conditions and essential health benefits like maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance use disorder services, preventive care and wellness services.

"The Trump administration's relentless attempts to dismantle the ACA threaten Granite Staters' access to quality, affordable care," said Senate Majority Leader Dan Feltes. "SB 4 will give New Hampshire citizens the peace of mind that they can get the care they need, when they need it, regardless of what happens at the federal level."

The bill now moves to the House.

dsolomon@unionleader.com

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