Latest news with #GraniteAdvantage
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The real price of Medicaid cuts: New Hampshire's children
"Medicaid's impact starts before a child even takes their first breath. Last year, almost a quarter (22%) of births in New Hampshire were covered by Medicaid, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report." (Getty Images) When a child walks through our doors at Waypoint, we don't just see a case file — we see a future. One that could be bright if that child has the necessary tools they need to grow up healthy, safe, and strong. One of the most powerful tools we have to make that future possible is Medicaid and its expansion through the Granite Advantage Program. Right now, that critical lifeline is at risk. At Waypoint, we work every day with families facing poverty, trauma, and mental health challenges. We see firsthand how access to Medicaid transforms lives — not just for children, but for entire families. It's no exaggeration to say that Medicaid is one of the most important investments we can make to ensure New Hampshire's children grow up healthy, stable, and ready to succeed. Medicaid's impact starts before a child even takes their first breath. Last year, almost a quarter (22%) of births in New Hampshire were covered by Medicaid, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report. That coverage means access to prenatal care that reduces complications and improves birth outcomes leading to healthier babies and mothers. And the support doesn't end there. Today, roughly 1 in 4 children in New Hampshire is enrolled in Medicaid, making children the largest group Medicaid serves. It covers doctor visits, dental and vision care, immunizations, mental health services, and critical care for children with complex needs or a history of trauma. For children in foster care, Medicaid is a guarantee — offering stability to those who need it most. Yet the state budget bill now being considered by the New Hampshire Legislature proposes drastic changes to the Medicaid and other programs that are unnecessary, concerning and potentially damaging to the health of children and families. The House-approved budget includes a 3% rate cut to Medicaid providers along with reductions in funding for mental health, community health, and public health programs. It would even eliminate the Office of the Child Advocate, a critical partner to our staff who rely on that office for independent oversight in complex and high-risk cases involving child safety. Beyond the budget, a proposal to impose a work requirement for adults in the Granite Advantage Program would very likely cut off access to care for many current enrollees, because of the administrative burdens it will impose. And Medicaid cuts under consideration at the federal level could eliminate Granite Advantage entirely, forcing all 60,000 individuals on the program to lose their health insurance coverage. And when parents lose coverage, children suffer. Research consistently shows that children are more likely to be insured and receive regular checkups and timely care when their parents have access to health insurance. Medicaid is also a shield against financial disaster. By covering essential services and reducing out-of-pocket costs, Medicaid helps families stay afloat. Without it, an unexpected illness can become a life-altering crisis. Families risk losing their homes. Parents can lose their jobs. And children — caught in the storm — lose their safety, support, and stability. Medicaid and the Granite Advantage Program are also one of our most effective tools in addressing the growing mental health crisis. New Hampshire has some of the highest rates of childhood behavioral and mental health disorders in the country. Untreated mental health conditions in parents are linked to poor developmental outcomes for children. Medicaid helps break this cycle by ensuring access to mental health care for both parents and kids, supporting more resilient and healthier families. The evidence is clear: traditional Medicaid and the Granite Advantage Program are a game-changer for New Hampshire's children. We cannot afford to lose or limit the benefits Medicaid provides to our New Hampshire children and families. We should be strengthening the systems that help families weather life's storms, not reducing them when they are most needed. In New Hampshire, we pride ourselves on being a place where families come first. We say we value our children. But values mean nothing without action — especially when the well-being of our kids is on the line. So, we must ask ourselves: What kind of New Hampshire do we want to be? A place where every child has a chance to thrive? Or one that turns its back on its most vulnerable? Let's choose the healthier path forward. Let's invest in New Hampshire's children by supporting Medicaid and the Granite Advantage Program.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Changes to Medicaid jeopardize our progress on mental health
"In the past several months, we have seen significant progress toward eliminating hospital emergency boarding for psychiatric patients, but that progress will likely stall if more people lose their ability to pay for treatment, medication, and help with social determinants of health." (Getty Images) The 60-year-old Medicaid system, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, ensures that individuals have access to critical mental health and substance use treatment, along with primary care. In 2025, the Medicaid system serves about 184,000 individuals in New Hampshire, or 13 percent of the state's population. Most people understand what Medicare is but not necessarily Medicaid. While Medicaid and Medicare were signed into law as a package in 1965, the programs are different and distinct. Medicaid is a federal-state partnership intended to provide health insurance coverage to children, women who are pregnant, people with low incomes, and those who may have a disability. New Hampshire's 10 nonprofit community mental health centers (CMHCs) receive the largest amount of their total revenue from the Medicaid program — between 70 and 90 percent — which enables us to provide care to over 55,000 children and adults annually. The New Hampshire Legislature is now deliberating bills that propose deeply concerning changes to the Medicaid program, including the imposition of work requirements. The work requirement bill targets individuals in the Medicaid expansion program — aka the Granite Advantage program — by requiring validation from employers, raising privacy concerns and creating unnecessary stress, particularly for someone with a mental illness. The majority of Granite Advantage enrollees already work, or have appropriate exemptions, yet under the proposed legislation, all enrollees would need to take on more paperwork and run the risk of losing coverage if the paperwork cannot be gathered, validated, or filed in a timely fashion. There are also proposals being considered by legislative budget writers to impose a monthly premium on Medicaid enrollees and double the copays for prescriptions. While the governor's spokesperson calls these increases 'nominal,' members of the House Finance Committee who have publicly pushed back have said these proposals will 'put a financial strain on families, noting that a single parent with two children making around $68,000 could have to come up with an extra $283 a month.' This represents a car payment, food, rent, or child care expenses for a low-income family. Unlike other states, New Hampshire law mandates that the Granite Advantage program will terminate in 6 months if the federal match for Medicaid drops below 90 percent. (The Granite Advantage program has an enhanced federal match.) There are over 58,000 individuals enrolled in Granite Advantage in 2025. Many of those in this population receive care from community mental health centers, and many will be cut out of the safety net if the federal government chooses to make that change. Others will still be eligible for services, which means centers will be bound to provide continuing care even without Medicaid coverage; this will add to the crushing burden of uncompensated care the CMHCs are already experiencing. This is the framework to consider as changes to the Medicaid system are being discussed by policymakers in Washington and in Concord. But the impact on revenue is only one part of the story here. There will also be an extended impact on community resources, hospital emergency departments, and first responders if the current Medicaid expansion group loses coverage. In the past several months, we have seen significant progress toward eliminating hospital emergency boarding for psychiatric patients, but that progress will likely stall if more people lose their ability to pay for treatment, medication, and help with social determinants of health. Since 2023, the CMHCs have worked collaboratively with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services on the Mission Zero initiative, intended to eliminate ER boarding. Mission Zero includes: (1) expansion of certified community behavioral clinics; (2) location-based centers for crisis stabilization; (3) care traffic control coordination; (4) expansion of DRF beds; (5) expansions in step-down less-restrictive care; and (6) landlord incentives to expand places to remain stably housed. All the work invested in Mission Zero by the state and by the CMHCs is in jeopardy if the Medicaid system is undermined and weakened. Proposals to dismantle Medicaid and the safety net under the guise of 'fiscal responsibility' are misguided and the potential consequences to the citizens of our state are enormous. We have done great work together to support those living with mental illness and addiction over the past several years. We are seeing improvements — let's not go backward. The New Hampshire Community Behavioral Health Association, representing the CMHCs, strongly opposes any effort to make critical mental health services less accessible to the people we serve.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ayotte's budget will lead to premium hike for some on Medicaid
Feb. 25—State Medicaid officials propose raising monthly premiums for some families and having others pay more for prescription drugs to generate nearly $27 million for Gov. Kelly Ayotte's two-year state budget. When Ayotte presented her budget proposal earlier this month, she said it included making some Medicaid clients pay what those on the federal-state health insurance program already pay in other states. "We brought our adult Medicaid eligibility back in line with pre-pandemic levels and joined our neighbors in requiring nominal copays for those receiving these benefits," Ayotte said. House budget writers learned last week state officials seek to raise nearly all that revenue by requiring some to pay monthly for their Medicaid coverage. House Democratic leaders raised concerns about the specifics of the proposal, which will require some recipients of the Medicaid programs to pay 5% of their income each year for health care coverage: Children's Health Insurance Program: Families with children in CHIP would pay if they made at least 255% of the federal poverty level, which is roughly $72,500 a year. The 5% premium would be about $300 a month or $3,600 a year. Granite Advantage: The premium would be charged to low-income adults in the Medicaid expansion program who made at least 100% of the federal poverty level, which for a single person is about $16,000 annually. The 5% translates to about $66 a month or $800 a year in client payments. All other clients in Granite Advantage who make less than the federal poverty level would see copayments for prescription drugs rise from $1 or $2 to $4 for each medication. Democrats' warning Rep. Mary Jane Wallner, D-Concord, is the ranking Democrat and former chairman of the House Finance Committee. "That's a family's car payment, it is the portion of their rent, their child care expense," Wallner said of the premiums charged to CHIP families. "You are going to see a number of families that aren't going to be able to do it." State Medicaid Director Henry Lipman said the premiums would apply to about 8,600 families, or about 10% in the CHIP program. In Granite Advantage, the premiums would apply to 12,000 clients, or about 20% of that population. Lipman said 18 states require some Medicaid recipients to pay monthly premiums, including Massachusetts and New York. The agency decided to pursue the monthly premium rather than copayments to raise most of this revenue because the cost to administer it is much cheaper. New Hampshire offers the CHIP benefit to families that make up to 323% of the federal poverty level, which is the fifth highest eligibility standard in the country, Lipman said. Ayotte adviser John Corbett said the change is needed to help produce a "responsible, balanced budget for all of New Hampshire" as the state deals with a loss of billions in federal pandemic aid and a declining rate of growth in state revenues. Federal law permits states to charge those on Medicaid premiums of up to 5% for families that make at least 150% of the poverty level, which is $48,200 for a family of four. The premiums from CHIP families will raise $3 million next year and $11 million in 2027, state officials said. Charging those in the Granite Advantage program will require approval of a federal waiver, so those premiums would not begin until 2027 and would raise $12 million a year. The copayments for prescriptions for all others in Granite Advantage would raise $750,000 a year, officials said. Lipman said these estimates assume some families will be unable to make these payments, so it will be up to policymakers to create policies for those who can't afford the premiums. klandrigan@
