Obamacare

44,412 New Hampshire residents signed up for or switched their health insurance plans on healthcare.gov during the Affordable Care Act's open enrollment period.

The number is just slightly down from last year's total of 44,581.

That trend is in line with national enrollment numbers which ticked downward 1.7%.

The health insurance market for individuals has remained relatively stable in New Hampshire in recent years, despite steep cuts in federal funding for advertising and outreach.

Three weeks into the federal healthcare exchange's open enrollment period, there are fewer new enrollees in New Hampshire compared to last year.

Since November 1st, 7,851 people in New Hampshire have signed up for a new plan or switched their plans on Healthcare.gov. That's down from 9,027 during the same period last year.

Zandra Rice-Hawkins with the non-profit Granite State Progress says severe cuts in federal funding for advertising the healthcare exchanges is driving the decline.

New Hampshire residents who get health insurance through Obamacare could see a modest decrease in monthly premiums next year under the latest proposed rates.

The New Hampshire Insurance Department says the proposed average premium for a benchmark individual plan in 2020 would be $440, or 2.5 percent lower than this year's average.

This year's median premium for such a plan was 15 percent lower than 2018, but that cost had jumped more than 75 percent the previous year.

New Hampshire’s congressional delegation is speaking out against a federal lawsuit to repeal the Affordable Care Act. 

The case, Texas v. U.S., will be heard in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday. It is brought by 18 states that say the individual mandate requiring people to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. 

A ruling in their favor could overturn the Affordable Care Act entirely, a goal of many Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration.

New Hampshire is on track to sign up about 20 percent fewer people under the Affordable Care Act during this year’s enrollment period.

Open enrollment for the New Hampshire ACA marketplace is still open – through December 15. So far about 11,400 people have signed up for health insurance plans. That compares to about 15,000 at the same point last year.

Nationally, sign-ups are down about 13 percent.

November 1st is the first day of open enrollment for people who buy health insurance offered through the Affordable Care Act.

People have until December 15 to select a plan from Anthem, Harvard Pilgrim or Ambetter that meets standards of the Obamacare program. 

Last year, about 50,000 people in New Hampshire participated in the program.

Some lawmakers and health advocates worry this number will decline because of confusion about the ACA and an increase in other insurance options.

The six-week window for people who buy their own health insurance through the Affordable Care Act begins Thursday.

Three insurance companies—Anthem, Harvard Pilgrim and Ambetter—are offering a total of 17 different plans in New Hampshire.

Even if you like your current plan, consumers are encouraged to shop around as prices and policies tend to shift from year to year. Overall, premiums for 2019 are down slightly from current rates.

The open enrollment window runs through December 15th.

 New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny encourages people to do their research and seek help from navigators for enrollment in the Affordable Care Act for 2018.

Sevigny acknowledged the uncertainty for certain consumers when the President and the Republican-controlled Congress continue to knock “Obamacare.”

Another challenge is the shortened enrollment period; Dec. 15 is the deadline this year.

 A company that provides health insurance under "Obamacare" and through New Hampshire's expanded Medicaid program is confirming its decision to continue its participation in the tumultuous individual market.

Ambetter by NH Healthy Families covers 77,100 Medicaid and health insurance marketplace members. The company said Thursday it will remain in the market for 2018 and is committed to working with state officials to stabilize the market and offer affordable options.

Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny says he can’t remember another time when trying to map out New Hampshire insurance markets was quite as tricky as it is today.

“This kind of uncertainty is unprecedented,” Sevigny said Tuesday, when asked to put this year’s marketplace planning into context. 

Senator Maggie Hassan met with health care leaders in Exeter Monday to talk about the need for a bipartisan plan forward in Washington--and to criticize President Trump for his handling of the health care issue.

Standing in the glass atrium of Exeter Hospital, the first-term Democrat did not mince words about what she sees as the flaws in the Republican approach to health policy. 

The New Hampshire Insurance Department is seeking a federal waiver aimed at lowering the price of health insurance for next year’s Obamacare plans, but Governor Chris Sununu opposes part of the Department’s idea for how to do it.

Governor Chris Sununu says he remains committed to reforming Obamacare but opposes the plan proposed by Senate Republican leaders.

The governor's opposition comes as the Senate's top Republican says he is pushing off a scheduled vote on the Senate's version of the bill.

Minuteman Health, Inc. announced that it will no longer sell insurance policies in New Hampshire as of January 1, 2018.

The Massachusetts-based non-profit, created as a co-op through the Affordable Care Act, has sold policies in each of the last three years through the health insurance exchange, and earlier this spring, submitted an application to New Hampshire regulators to again do so in 2018.

New Hampshire Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan are holding what they're calling an emergency field hearing on the Republican health care bill.

That hearing is slated for Friday at 2 p.m. at the UNH School of Law in Concord.

The Democratic Senators say they want to hear from Granite Staters about the legislation, the details of which were released earlier today.

According to the Associated Press, the bill would cut Medicaid, end penalties for people not buying insurance, and eliminate several tax increases.

Despite uncertainty over the Affordable Care Act and the GOP’s plan to replace it, four insurers have filed initial applications to sell policies next year in New Hampshire’s marketplace.

AARP is taking a stand against the proposed healthcare overhall making its way through the House of Representatives.

AARP claims 233,000 members in New Hampshire, and the group says it basically doesn't like anything about the bill proposed by Congressional Republicans. On a conference all with reporters Thursday, AARP Legislative Policy Director David Certner said the bill would downshift the cost of healthcare to families and state government.

Senator Jeb Bradley says New Hampshire’s approach to Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act has been a success, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be improved.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is asking Congress to give states as much flexibility as possible to design their own health care systems as part of the federal effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Sununu is offering his thoughts in a letter to U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy sent Wednesday. Congress is soliciting governors' feedback on changes to health care. Sununu says a new system should avoid "onerous regulations" on states.

Senator Maggie Hassan is urging local care providers to fight for President Obama's signature health law.

Hassan used a visit to a Concord community mental health center to urge local care providers to lend their voices to what she termed the battle over Obamacare, which Washington Republicans have begun repealing. The law has helped 63,000 people in New Hampshire obtain coverage.

The federal government released data today on the impacts of the Affordable Care Act in New Hampshire.

The big picture is the uninsured rate in New Hampshire is down 43 percent since before the law went into effect. That means 63,000 people have gained coverage in the state through the Affordable Care Act.

About two-thirds of the newly insured bought coverage through Healthcare.gov, and the rest have signed up for the state's expanded Medicaid program, which provides insurance for low-income people.

The federal government has said no to New Hampshire's attempt to make Medicaid recipients prove they're working, or a so-called work requirement.

When the state legislature re-authorized expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act in 2015, there was a catch: Republicans pushed for a rule that would require Medicaid recipients to prove they were employed or looking for work, a measure that needed federal approval.