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Health & Fitness

NH STATE INCOME TAX: Is It Inevitable If NH Expands Medicaid???

This week, NH state legislators are headed back to Concord to convene in a special session called by Governor Maggie Hassan. The major focus of legislator attention will be the whole question of whether NH will expand Medicaid eligibility, an action strongly desired by supporters of the Affordable Care Act, more commonly referred to as Obamacare.

The Governor supports Medicaid expansion, and regularly tells us that it will mean a massive amount of federal money coming into the state with its adoption. However, after the initial money “windfall”, NH residents will become increasingly responsible for the annual costs of Medicaid to a tune that many assert is simply unsustainable at current expectations of the state’s income in coming years. Many believe that the cost of expanded Medicaid will ultimately open the door for the imposition of a state income tax to finance it. I personally think that such is a very definite possibility.

Critics of expanded Medicaid point to the fact that the up to 50,000 expected new Medicaid participants under expanded Medicaid will go far beyond those truly in need of Medicaid assistance for their healthcare, but in fact will include many NH people who already benefit from employer-sponsored health insurance who will be able to switch over to a taxpayer-subsidized program. And before anyone calls expansion critics selfish and uncaring, it’s important to note that they’re not referring to working low-income people who truly need our help.

Find out what's happening in Bedfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

To refresh your memory, the subject of Medicaid expansion was not resolved by the end of the 2013 legislative session. Consequently, the Governor appointed a commission to further study the issue and to make recommendations for legislators to consider. The commission did not have an equal number of Democratic and Republican members, thus as expected by those in the know, Democrats were able to gain a majority recommendation to expand Medicaid. Legislators will now go back into battle to decide the issue’s fate in NH.

Bedford’s very own legislator Senator Andy Sanborn was a member of the commission. He serves as Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and is also on the committee dealing with Health, Education, and Welfare issues. He thus has strong insight on the whole subject of Medicaid, as well as on all of the arguments both in favor and against Medicaid expansion.

Find out what's happening in Bedfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Last week, the first of two new “Tell It Like It Is with Public Officials” shows was taped with Andy to discuss the overall impact in New Hampshire of Obamacare, whether the state should participate in a federal health insurance exchange program or instead inaugurate a state-based insurance exchange, and what should be done with the state’s Medicaid program.

I strongly urge you to watch both shows since it’s more important than ever that you communicate your viewpoints to state legislators. Decisions that will be made by them in coming days and weeks will have multiple long-term effects on every resident of our state.

The first new show with Senator Andy Sanborn,  titled “Unraveling the Healthcare Debate”, is now available to view on the show’s website at www.tellitlikeitisnh.com . On the top toolbar, simply click on Issues, and then click on Most Recent Shows. The show will be permanently archived on the website under the Issues category.

The show will also begin airing on BCTV Channel 16 on this Friday, November 8, and will air twice daily through to Thursday evening, November 14 on the following schedule:

Friday/Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday – 9:30 AM, 8:00 PM

Saturday/Monday/Wednesday – 1:30 PM, 10:00 PM

Big issues need your attention, knowledge, and input. If you’re not willing to give such, then your comments after they are decided will be somewhat meaningless, don’t you think???  

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