Budget writers in the state Senate voted to reduce by $15 million Medicaid provider rate payment increases backed by the New Hampshire House.
The move is one of several ways the GOP-led Senate has differed with the House and is steering some key budget policies closer to the proposals of Gov. Chris Sununu.
“If we don’t, at least in my opinion, make a pretty concerted effort to enhance our Medicaid provider rates, we, our healthcare system and everybody that depends on it, is going to suffer,” said Senate President Jeb Bradley.
The rate increases backed by the Senate Finance Committee still exceed what Sununu included in his budget, by $75 million.
But under the committee proposal, top state health officials would have the ability to target rate increases by need.
“They, better than any of us, understand the pressure points providers are facing, and they will do it in a way that complies with the parity requirements of the federal government,” Bradley added.
While the plan won strong support, it wasn't unanimous.
“I am really concerned about this,” Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, a Nashua Democrat, said before voting against the proposal.
Rosenwald noted that Medicaid providers have argued that $200 million in new funding is needed to ensure adequate staffing.
“We do have the revenues to do it in the next biennium, and I would hope we will have the will to continue with this important workforce piece,” Rosenwald stressed.Border and immigration policies
Senate budget writers voted Monday to restore $1.4 million proposed by Sununu to increase immigration and drug enforcement along the U.S.-Canadian border.
The House had stripped funding for what is known as the Northern Border Alliance, which would provide about $600,000 for state police equipment and overtime, and $800,000 in grants for municipal and county law enforcement agencies that operate within 25 miles of the Canadian border.
Bradley said, with fentanyl a persistent crisis in New Hampshire and illegal crossings from Canada rising, prudence dictates boosting border security.
“It behooves us to do this,” Bradley told colleagues.
Democrats on the committee opposed the plan. They argued the focus needs to be on hiring more state police officers; right now, 70 state trooper positions are unfilled.
“We all know full well we don’t have enough troopers,” Sen Lou D’Allesandro of Manchester said. “When we are down 70 bodies, we can’t cover the roads.”
The Finance Committee also voted Monday to strip a provision from the budget passed by the House requiring that local and state police notify the public of any federal immigration checkpoint.
The Senate has already rejected an identical standalone House bill on that policy.
Before the party line votes on the border and immigration amendments, Rosenwald noted the policies were part of the budget deal that allowed a spending plan to clear the House.
“These were really important to securing the bipartisan budget agreement,” she said.Work on the budget will continue
Under the revenue estimates adopted last week, Senate budget writers will have $184 million more to spend than their House counterparts.
As Bradley emphasized Tuesday, there are still major policies to resolve.
“We've got several huge items: housing, child care, pay raise for state employees, education funding, and Medicaid provider rates,” Bradley said.
