Hospitals strongly support SB 263, which reauthorizes New Hampshire’s Medicaid expansion program.
This program currently provides health coverage to over 90,000 low-income Granite State residents who were previously uninsured and ensures that these patients and their families have access to vital medical care, whether its primary care, mental health or substance use services. Since the program’s inception in 2014, Medicaid Expansion has reduced the number of uninsured patients seeking care in hospital emergency departments by 63% because having health insurance means they can get the right care at the right place when they need it most. This has resulted in a significant reduction the amount of uncompensated care costs absorbed by hospitals attributable to uninsured patients from $173 million in 2014 to $69 million in 2021.
The Granite Advantage Health Care Program has helped to create a better New Hampshire, and the continuation of this vital program is an important investment in the health of our state and the people it serves.
Steve Ahnen is president of the New Hampshire Hospital Association and John Jurczyk is President of St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua and Chair of the Association’s Advocacy Task Force.
