Extending Medicaid: A Resource Page

Under the Affordable Care Act, New Hampshire has the opportunity to accept federal funds to extend Medicaid to more NH families — improving the health of New Hampshire workers and taking pressure off employers, private insurance and medical providers. Visit here for regularly updated links and information.

Accepting federal funds to help NH families is important because:

Hard-working families need the security of good health coverage to get lifesaving care when they need it without facing huge medical bills.
We can save millions of dollars currently spent to treat people without insurance in our emergency rooms.
If you or someone in your family lost a job, this coverage would be there while you got back on your feet.
The federal government will pay 100 percent of the costs for the first three years and then phase down to 90 percent, where payments will remain under federal law.

Accepting federal funds would bring billions of dollars into the New Hampshire economy over the next seven years.

New Hampshire will receive roughly $2.5 billion in additional federal aid between 2014 and 2020, according to a Lewin Group analysis.
These funds would provide a critical economic boost, funding new jobs in health care and in businesses that serve the health care industry

Accepting federal funds is a good deal for New Hampshire.

New Hampshire can increase the number of people covered by Medicaid by 40 percent for just over a quarter percent increase in state Medicaid costs over seven years.
New Hampshire can save expenses related to people who need emergency medical care but don’t earn enough to pay for it.
Any delay in extending Medicaid raises the costs. A two-year delay would double the cost to the state because the federal government will pay 100 percent only through 2016.

Accepting these federal funds means a healthier and more productive work force.

Roughly 58,000 New Hampshire residents are expected to enroll under the new Medicaid rules by 2020. Benefits would go to individuals earning up to approximately $15,000 per year or up to $32,000 for a family of four.
Low-wage workers in critical fields like child care, food service or home health services would have access to health care. Small businesses may not have to provide insurance and would still be assured their staff had access to care.

Accepting federal funds does not add to the federal deficit.

The ACA was passed assuming nationwide participation in the Medicaid expansion and as a whole, is projected to save the federal government a total of $109 billion by 2019, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
States are free to withdraw from the Medicaid extension program at any time.