NH Senate Votes To End Medicaid Expansion And Leave 40,000 Stranded Without Insurance

[Omaha Steve]

Source: NH Labor News

Today, the New Hampshire Senate voted straight down party lines against continuing the state’s partisan Medicaid expansion.

New Hampshire Senate Republicans including Jeb Bradley have praised the state’s bipartisan Medicaid expansion program, saying “the indications are that it’s working exactly as we intended. It’s reducing emergency room visits, and reducing what I call the ‘hidden tax’ of uncompensated care.”

Yet despite touting the program’s benefits for New Hampshire’s people, businesses and economy, the Senate Finance Committee voted yesterday along party lines against continuing the bipartisan plan.

“Just yesterday, Republican Senators on the Finance Committee touted the success of our bipartisan Medicaid expansion plan,” said Senator Woodburn. “This isn’t a partisan issue. New Hampshire’s business community, including the Business and Industry Association, has called on us to continue the state’s successful expansion program because it’s reducing heath care cost-shifting onto our families and businesses, strengthening the health of our workforce, and boosting our economy.”

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://nhlabornews.com/2015/05/nh-senate-votes-to-end-medicaid-expansion-and-leave-40000-stranded-without-insurance/

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NH Labor is run by DUer Matt Murray.

[EEO]

1. Evil assholes.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Just like Walker & Co. in WI.

[EEO]

5. And Jindal in Louisiana.

And the list goes on and on.

[marym625]

3. God damn I am so sick of these greedy bastards!

[TM99]

4. I live in a state where this is about to happen as well.

While I am certainly pissed at the GOP, I am equally pissed that once the public option was gone and we were left with Heritagecare that the architects did not plan ahead for this type of shit.

Provisions should have been made iron clad that any medicaid expansion would be protected from individual state's attempts to overturn it. What, they thought the GOP ruled red states would just go along with this without any fights?

[IronLionZion]

6. It was. The US Supreme Court allowed states to opt out

[TM99]

7. They should have planned ahead for that possibility.

[okaawhatever]

14. How? There isn't anything they can do shy of making sure the state legislatures are made up of 51%

Dems. Your statement is ridiculous.

[TM99]

17. Now, no there is nothing they can do.

Then in the planning stages. Yes.

It is ridiculous to think given the scope and magnitude of the program that such contingencies would not have been planned for given the immediate push back from the GOP on 'Obamacare'.

[okaawhatever]

22. No, there is nothing you can do to make someone join a program when SCOTUS says joining is

optional.. Again, you aren't answering the question. What could be done?

[TM99]

23. Read again.

You are telling me no one in legal thought to ask about the ACA, "is there any way this could be challenged in court?" How can we make the ACA such that options for federal funding for medicaid expansion are not going to be ruled 'optional'?

[geek tragedy]

28. The funding was legislated as non-optional. The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutionally

coercive to make it non-optional.

So, no, there's nothing they could have done about that.

On the plus side, that same rule may save the subsidies in June.

[CreekDog]

20. the Supreme Court said they couldn't do it

how many times do we have to explain it?

[TM99]

21. Before it got to SCOTUS.

The 11th Dimensional wunderkind could have had his team of crack insurance reps do this little thing called 'risk assessment'.

What challenges legally is this plan likely to face? OK, let's plan for as many as possible.

What challenges politically is this plan likely to face? What, you mean the GOP is just going to accept it without fighting it in the courts or in state government? OK, let's plan for as many of those challenges as possible.

[CK_John]

26. Then of course Congress would have passed this as legislation with no regards to the the states....

[Eric J in MN]

36. The Supreme Court ruling making Medicaid expansion optional was unprecedented.

I didn't predict it. I don't blame Reps and Senators for not predicting that strange Supreme Court ruling.

[Sgent]

43. It was pretty much iron clad

they either expanded Medicaid or lost ALL medicaid dollars.

The problem was the supreme court said that this was illegally coercive to the states. The fact that the supreme court had allowed this type of thing when it came to the drinking age (lose transportation funds), drug laws, and other issues meant no one expected the supreme court to backtrack.

[George II]

8. Live Free or Die....they take that too far.

[DonCoquixote]

9. It's one thing for a state like Florida to do this

But seriously, what the hell happened where Blue States are going psycho?

[jwirr]

10. That is one very good question. Will the governor veto it if the House passes it?

[PatSeg]

34. I doubt it

Maggie Hassan is a Democrat and from what I can see she is a liberal.

[Tempest]

48. Hassan will definitely veto it

For two reasons:

1. Businesses are against the repeal.
2. She's not going to repeal one of her signature acts. She was the driving force behind the original passage of the law.

[jwirr]

49. Good.

[okaawhatever]

15. New Hampshire is barely blue and very libertarian leaning. The first Free Stater elected to office

there ran as a Democrat. NH is an anomoly in politics.

[DonCoquixote]

16. which makes the fact that they are the first poltical battleground

oh so very strange. Still, the thing about libertarians is that as much as they hate government Tyranny, they sure like corporate tyrants who do things few governments would dare to do, like deny old and sick health care.

[WilliamPitt]

24. Um...

Whence comes this conclusion? There is only one (1) federally elected Republican in office (Ayotte). The other Senator, and the entire House delegation, are all Democrats...and all women, as is the Democratic governor. NH went for Kerry in 2004, and for Obama in both 2008 and 2012.

Your information is out of date.

[moose65]

32. Actually, no

One of NH's Congressional Representatives is a Republican man. Frank Guinta represents the swingy 1st district. He and Carol Shea-Porter kinda take turns (it seems) representing this district.

Their other Rep is a Democratic woman, as is the other Senator, Jeanne Shaheen. The Governor is a Democrat, but both houses of the legislature are currently held by Republicans. NH is like the ultimate swing state, although I suspect that deep down it really leans more to the blue side.

[Demeter]

18. NH is technically blue--but deep in its heart, it's blood red

Live free or die! A lot of people are dying in NH....

[WilliamPitt]

25. Again:

There is only one (1) federally elected Republican in office (Ayotte). The other Senator, and the entire House delegation, are all Democrats...and all women, as is the Democratic governor. NH went for Kerry in 2004, and for Obama in both 2008 and 2012.

Your information is out of date.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

31. I think he's talking state legislature.

Repubs winning a vote 'strictly along partisan lines' tells us that there are more Repubs than Dems at that particular level of government.

[Tempest]

39. I live in NH and the state is deep red

When it comes to statewide offices.

Republicans in the last election took a commanding lead in the state legislature. It was a bloodbath.

[geek tragedy]

29. This state elected Sununu as governor not too long ago.

It also went for Bush in 2000.

[No Vested Interest]

11. What is the party breakdown in the NH House and is bill likely to pass or fail there? nt

[Eric J in MN]

37. Republicans control the NH House

238 - 160.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_House_of_Representatives#Composition

[Tempest]

40. Regardless of whether it passes the House or not

Governor Hassan will veto it. Republicans have failed to override her vetoes so far.

[No Vested Interest]

42. Good news. nt

[Marrah_G]

12. Ahhh NH....beautiful state run by idiots

It's where New England sends it's RW morans.

[blackspade]

13. Vindictive assholes.

[INdemo]

19. Koch Bros money pushing this ?

let see...Do the Koch Brothers have any logging interests in NH..I smell a Koch Brothers rat somewhere

[CK_John]

27. We deserve the government we get.

[graegoyle]

55. No, we fucking don't.

Especially with all the underhanded 💩 that has been seen in elections, that statement is idiotic.

[LonePirate]

30. Surely there is no way this will be signed into law by the state's Dem governor.

[Eric J in MN]

35. Gov. Maggie Hassan (D-NH)

..signed Medicaid expansion into law in March 2014.

It would be surprising if she signed a repeal.

http://www.wmur.com/politics/gov-maggie-hassan-signs-medicaid-expansion-into-law/25197176

[Tempest]

41. It would be earth shattering if she signed it

And Republicans haven't been able to override any of her vetoes. They won't on this one either.

[Tempest]

47. None. What. So. Ever.

But she won't have to. It'll never get out of the House.

[hollowdweller]

33. 40,000 votes can swing an election sometimes

I wonder how many of the recipients know this is in the works? How many are registered to vote?

[Tempest]

45. We're just now finding out about this

The Senate snuck it in and the reaction has been brutal against the Senate. Everyone I know is contacting the Senate and House members not to even think about eliminating the exchanges.

[wordpix]

38. don't they know employers LOVE Medicaid expansion?

My experience of having cancer, getting treatments, having to stop work, getting well and looking for work after treatments at age 63 is that there are mostly part-time jobs out there for me. Employers love it that they can pay a low hourly wage and not have to offer benefits, which they justify since the employee has Medicaid expansion if he's poor enough, or O-care if he makes more. We'll see how this turns out, but it won't be pretty.

[Tempest]

44. The House won't act on it and it'll die a quick death

Businesses and health care executives are hammering the House members to not take it up.

Because of the power of businesses in this state, campaign contributions from individuals is paltry in comparison, the House won't go against them.

[quadrature]

46. why is this a state-issue?

if the feds want something,
they should pay for it.

[Tempest]

50. It helps if you read up on an issue before commenting

"The federal government pays 100 percent of the cost for the newly eligible recipients who can earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level under the Affordable Care Act."

[quadrature]

51. then why is it a state issue? ....nt

[Tempest]

52. Why are you asking when you can learn why for yourself? n/t

[former9thward]

54. It is a state issue because the state has to start paying in 2016.

The federal share of coverage goes from 100% to 90% by 2020. In addition the state has to pay administrative costs.

[Yo_Mama]

53. But the states start picking up part of the cost in 2017 - which is the date in question

The current Medicaid expansion is still good through the end of 2016. This vote was about expanding their current program past that date, and really they are just kicking the can down the road.

I'm sure they'll do something before 2017, but whether it will be quite the current program, who knows?