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In reversal, study on access to women’s health care approved by Executive Council

Maria Varanka leads a training for emergency responders on how to help someone through labor and delivery. She's an EMS training coordinator at the New Hampshire Department of Safety.
courtesy photo for NHPR
Maria Varanka leads a training for emergency responders on how to help someone through labor and delivery. She's an EMS training coordinator at the New Hampshire Department of Safety.

New Hampshire's Executive Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve a contract to study ways to expand women's access to health services, two months after the three Republican councilors initially rejected it.

The reversal follows weeks of lobbying from women’s health advocates and the two Democrats on the five-member council.

The goal of the study is to make sure women with private health insurance get coverage for the services they need, and that are required by federal and state laws, and to identify any gaps in coverage, particularly when it comes to postpartum care.

The council on Wednesday also approved a second contract to give state regulators that oversee insurance companies tools to help make sure those companies are actually covering women’s health services required by the Affordable Care Act. That includes breastfeeding support and counseling, as well as screenings for gestational diabetes, maternal depression, and domestic and interpersonal violence.

“It’s important that our health commissioner hold our health care insurance carriers accountable for meeting certain… aspects of the Affordable Care Act,” said Janet Stevens, a Democratic member of the Executive Council.

Republican Councilor Joe Kenney said while he supports the goals of the study, he initially voted against it because he wanted to make sure costs wouldn’t increase for small businesses and individuals as a result.

“They’re going to make recommendations,” Kenney said. “We just want to make sure those recommendations are fine, but they don’t drive up the health insurance premiums.”

After the initial vote in May, Kenney said he and the two other Republican councilors requested changing the terms of the contract to find ways to increase access, while guaranteeing health care premiums remain flat.

Advocates for women’s health attributed the council’s decision to public pressure.

The New Hampshire Women’s Foundation celebrated the passing of this new contract, thanking people for calling their councilors to reconsider their votes. They noted that 11 maternity wards in the state have closed and that they affect women in rural areas the most.

“Women’s health is not a partisan issue, but it is clear that women’s leadership is needed to ensure comprehensive and affordable women’s health care,” the foundation said in a statement on its Facebook page. “We know that regardless of party, women in elected office are more likely to vote for efforts that support women and girls, and this was made abundantly clear in the Executive Council’s vote.”

Stevens estimates roughly 200 people reached out to her since May with their concerns about the contract being rejected. One that stood out to her the most was a mother who had a C-section and told Stevens that after the procedure, she did not have enough support. As a mother of two, Stevens said she understood.

“I know exactly what she means,” Stevens said. “For all women, we can do better.”

The contractors have until September 2026 to complete their work.

I’m a general assignment reporter, which means that I report on all kinds of different stories. But I am especially drawn to stories that spark curiosity and illustrate the complexities of how people are living and who they are. I’m also interested in getting to the “how” of how people live out their day-to-day lives within the policies, practices, and realities of the culture around them. How do you find community or make sure you’re represented in places of power? I’m interested in stories that challenge entrenched narratives and am drawn to covering arts and culture, as they can be a method of seeing how politics affects us.
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