Group Calls on Sanborn to Resign from Medicaid Study

The NH Citizens Alliance for Action is calling on state Sen. Andy Sanborn to resign from the Medicaid Expansion Study Commission after comparing the Affordable Care Act to the deadly plane crash in San Francisco last weekend.

Sanborn (R-Bedford) joked that the president's landmark health care law was "barreling down on us like a jet landing into San Francisco." He made the remark as a guest host on WTPL 107.7 FM, and as part of a larger critique on the Affordable Care Act. Sanborn apologized, according to a WMUR-TV report, but one group supportive of Medicaid expansion says the senator should resign from the newly created study commission after making such a comment.

"Senator Sanborn is not an appropriate legislator to serve on the Medicaid expansion study commission," Interim Executive Director Kary Jencks said in a press release. "In light of his recent statement, Senator Sanborn has proven he does not have the needed attitude or the desire to have a serious discussion on how and whether to expand health coverage to 58,000 hardworking, lower income Granite Staters."

"Study commission members are tasked with thoughtful, respectable dialogue on this issue, and it is clear that Senator Sanborn cannot live up to that responsibility. Senator Sanborn should to resign or be removed from the commission.”

In a phone interview, Jencks said 10 other members of the commission have dedicated themselves to looking into an important opportunity to expand care for people in need. 

Sanborn, however, has made no secret of his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, aka "Obamacare." 

The study commission was agreed to as part of the state budget comprise last month. Gov. Maggie Hassan (D-Exeter) and Democrats in the House and Senate supported Medicaid expansion as a means to extend coverage to low-income individuals and families in New Hampshire. Supporters also argue that the state would lose out, as the federal government will pay 100 percent of expansion costs during the first three years before the share dips gradually to 90 percent. It means as much as $422 million in the 2014-2015 biennium, supporters argue.

Republicans in Concord, led by Senate President Peter Bragdon (R-Milford), pushed instead for a study to resolve all questions before proceeding with consideration of expansion. 

The Medicaid Expansion Study Commission met for the first time on July 8. The legislative goal is for it to conclude its work by Oct. 15. Given that schedule, supporters hold out hope the state can pursue expansion with 2014.

Medicaid is a federal-state program that helps pay health care for the needy, aged, blind and disabled, and certain low-income families with children.