The question of whether to continue New Hampshire’s Medicaid expansion program is shaping up to be one of the biggest policy debates on deck.
There are three broad paths on the table.
A cohort of mostly Republicans has opposed the program all along and are likely to continue fighting for repeal. One bill with largely Democratic support would extend the program permanently.
Another bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley would extend the program five more years. Bradley hopes some of his Republican colleagues who are skeptical will acknowledge its benefits.
“I think people realize that in the middle of a drug crisis in particular that Medicaid was helping people deal with that and I imagine saved lives and helped people turn their lives around,” Bradley says.
Both bills to extend the program would move it to a managed care model, like the rest of New Hampshire’s Medicaid program. In this model, the state outsources coverage to private companies that have profit incentives to make patients' care less expensive and more efficient.
