The federal government has approved a key aspect of New Hampshire's Medicaid expansion plan.
Since July, adults making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty limit — about $15,900 a year — have been eligible for coverage either through the state's managed care program for Medicaid or through a program that subsidizes existing employer coverage.
Under the plan lawmakers passed last year, those who initially sign up for managed care will be moved to private plans through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, but the state needed a federal waiver to use federal Medicaid money to buy private coverage.
Gov. Maggie Hassan said Thursday that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has approved the waiver.