Senate Finance Committee rejects Medicaid expansion

CONCORD – The Senate Finance Committee Wednesday night voted 4-2 to reject Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act and instead establish a commission to study the potential impact on the state.

Senate President Peter Bragdon, R-Milford, said he has reservations about the federal government meeting its obligation to pay 100 percent of the cost of the program for the first three years and then gradually reducing its share to 90 percent after seven years.

Medicaid expansion would cover about 60,000 Granite Staters who are currently uninsured and while paying state health care providers about $2.5 billion for medical services over the next seven years.

"The federal government is making many promises when it comes to helping states fund Medicaid expansion, but we have been disappointed before with these types of promises and need to be cautious," Bragdon said. "Furthermore, neither the information we have received from HHS (Health and Human Services) nor other studies, are able to point to clear evidence to prove expanding Medicaid will lead to lower costs or improved health care outcomes."

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130523/NEWS06/130529600

They would rather throw 60,000 people under the bus!

News Buzzard wrote:They would rather throw 60,000 people under the bus!

Anybody else think it's funny that he used "under the bus"?

Remember...we aren't driving that bus...we are in the back.

Can one person that believes in this paying your fair share meme please explain how somebody’s fair share equals amounts to ZERO?

Why should the tax payers of New Hampshire pick up the tab for 60,000 health insurance policies?

Hear, Hear.

What does meme mean?

A meme is an idea or set of ideas, that self-replicate within a like minded group. Often times they are not based in fact

Thanks

We don't even have money to fix our roads and bridges. It does not make sense business wise.

NO, ZERO is not a fair share. The bigger problem is those that don't even work but get all the freebies.

And some are not even Americans!

Yes!!

Outerlimits wrote:Why should the tax payers of New Hampshire pick up the tab for 60,000 health insurance policies?

Because the federal government is picking up 100% of the tab for the first 3 years and 90% of it after that. It would be nice to see some of our tax money come back to the state. If we don't take it, another state will!

That's the way the Feds fool the states into something that they can't afford. The Feds say they will pay for the first year or two or three and that sounds great, but then when the states are stuck with the bill, they can't afford to pay.

WHL

Hear, Hear!

I want to live in a state that I can be proud of. A state that is different from other states.

Me too, fsh. I don't know if you have ever listened to the Wilkow Majority? He talks quite often about how all the Mass. people moved to southern NH and changed NH so much. To me if you want to move to NH, that's fine, but don't then try to change the state to be another state. I loved NH so much more when I was younger. It was a much better state then. (It's not really the state, it's the government.)