HB 619-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
01/05
HOUSE BILL 619-FN
AN ACT requiring the state of New Hampshire to opt out of the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
COMMITTEE: Commerce and Consumer Affairs
This bill requires the state of New Hampshire to opt out of the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0481
01/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT requiring the state of New Hampshire to opt out of the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Federal Mandate; State to Opt Out. Pursuant to section 1332 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the commissioner of the department of health and human services shall immediately develop the necessary waiver to allow the state of New Hampshire to opt out of the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance under such Act.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
LBAO
11-0481
Revised 01/27/11
HB 619 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT requiring the state of New Hampshire to opt out of the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Health and Human Services states this bill will have an indeterminable fiscal impact on state revenue and state and local expenditures in FY 2014 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county expenditures or on county and local revenues.
METHODOLOGY:
This bill directs the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services to seek a waiver to opt-out of the individual mandate component of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 which mandates that individuals have health insurance coverage by January 1, 2014 or pay a penalty. The Department of Health and Human Services states there has been no process outlined by the federal government for such waivers. The Department indicated that if such a waiver was sought and granted by January 2014, the fiscal impact can not be determined. The Department stated that without the individual mandate, it is believed that only the very sick would access health insurance. This would increase the cost of health insurance since there may not be enough healthy individuals in the pool to balance the risk of large payouts. The Department is not able to estimate the cost of state and local assistance that would need to be provided to uninsured individuals not mandated to obtain insurance coverage.