House Delivers Mental Health Care for Children with No New Tax
CONCORD, NH – NFI North, which runs the state’s FAST Forward program, reached an agreement today to bill Anthem directly for the care children in the program receive. Kids keep the mental health care they depend on, Anthem pays its share, and no one pays a new tax on their health insurance to make it happen.
“We made these families a promise, and we kept it,” said House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee Chairman John Hunt (R-Rindge)
“We were told a new tax was the only way to help these kids. We said no, there is a better way, and we promised to find it,” said Hunt. “We brought everyone to the table and today we got it done.”
Rather than settle for a new tax on every family’s health plan, the Commerce Committee worked directly with the program and the insurer to find out why the care wasn’t being paid for and to fix it at the source. The agreement takes effect without any new legislation.
“These kids keep their care, insurance pays its share, and families don’t pay a new tax on their health insurance,” said Hunt. “That’s the right outcome for the kids, for their parents, and for every Granite Stater who pays a premium.”
“For these families, nothing about their child’s care has to change. They can count on the same people and the same services, and they don’t have to worry about whether the program will be there next year. That’s what we were fighting for.”
BACKGROUND
FAST Forward serves children and teenagers with serious mental health needs and their families. The program wraps services around the child at home and in the community, helping keep kids out of hospitals and residential treatment and closer to their parents, schools and friends.
Under federal law, Medicaid is supposed to be the payer of last resort, meaning private insurance pays first when a child is covered. Under today’s agreement, NFI North will bill Anthem directly for the care Anthem-covered children receive, so the cost of that care falls where it belongs instead of on taxpayers.
