NH State Representative Steven Smith

Concord, NH – Today, Insurance Commissioner Chris Nicolopoulos spoke on a media call coordinated by Covering New Hampshire to share information about the Health Insurance Marketplace and Open Enrollment for the approximately 41,000 state residents who will purchase health insurance in the individual market for 2021 coverage. Open enrollment in the individual Health Insurance Marketplace will run from November 1 to December 15.

“Individual market members are likely to see large decreases in their premiums this year due to the approval of New Hampshire’s 1332 waiver,” said Insurance Commissioner Chris Nicolopoulos. “Those qualifying for financial assistance will continue to receive support when signing up through HealthCare.gov.” 

“New Hampshire insurance companies are offering significantly lower average premium rates for the third year in a row,” stated Governor Chris Sununu. “Everyone who is purchasing a health insurance plan for 2021 should shop around, just as they would for any other big purchase, even if they like the plan they have now. There may be another plan out there that’s more affordable or that has a better network of health care providers.”

Health Insurance Plans:

In 2021, three insurance companies will offer individual plans on the New Hampshire Marketplace: Anthem, Ambetter from NH Healthy Families, and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

For your coverage to begin on January 1, 2021, you will need to enroll by December 15, 2020. You can enroll in an individual insurance plan outside of the open enrollment period only if you qualify for a special enrollment period of 60 days following qualifying life events. You will need to pay your first premium by your insurance company’s due date before your 2021 coverage will take effect.

Where to Find Help:

If you want to receive federal financial assistance to pay for a plan, you will need to enroll through the Marketplace (HealthCare.gov). An insurance agent or enrollment assister can help you with this process. If you are enrolled in Marketplace coverage for 2020, you will receive renewal information from your insurance company and the Marketplace. Even if you liked your plan for 2020, it is important to update your application for subsidy eligibility purposes and to look at your options for 2021 because plan benefits and networks change from year to year.

You can buy a plan outside of the federal Marketplace – through an insurance agent or directly from an insurance company – and it will cover the same essential services as a Marketplace plan.

Federal Assistance Based on Income Levels Is Available for 2021:

Depending on your income level, you may qualify for financial assistance for paying premiums and/or out-of-pocket costs for a health insurance plan bought through the Marketplace. All of these subsidies are available for 2021 plans, as long as you sign up during open enrollment.

When you complete an application on HealthCare.gov, you will be prompted to enter your “tax household” size and financial information. After completing the application, you will be notified if you qualify for financial assistance for a Marketplace plan or for coverage through the New Hampshire Granite Advantage Program.

Buyer Beware:

Consumers are encouraged to exercise caution and ask questions before purchasing a health plan from any company other than the three that are offering ACA-compliant health plans on and off HealthCare.gov: Ambetter, Anthem and Harvard Pilgrim. The Department strongly urges consumers to read all of their plan documents before enrolling in a plan. If you are unsure about the insurance company or agent you are dealing with, stop before signing any paperwork or writing a check and call the Insurance Department to confirm the company or agent offering the coverage is legitimate and licensed in the state.

The Department wants to ensure that consumers fully understand what is and is not covered before enrolling in a plan. There are coverage options available in New Hampshire other than the ACA-compliant plans sold on or off HealthCare.gov, but they do not cover all the benefits of ACA-compliant plans.

More information on 2021 plans:

•             Visit the Insurance Department’s website for additional resources: https://www.nh.gov/insurance/consumers/mp_plans.htm

•             The Find Local Help tool on HealthCare.gov can help you find free help with picking a plan and enrollment.

The New Hampshire Insurance Department Can Help

The New Hampshire Insurance Department’s mission is to promote and protect the public good by ensuring the existence of a safe and competitive insurance marketplace through the development and enforcement of the insurance laws of the State of New Hampshire. Contact us with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your insurance coverage at

1‐800‐ 852‐3416 or (603) 271‐2261, or by email at consumerservices@ins.nh.gov. For more information, visit www.nh.gov/insurance.

I have written before about separate issues regarding state education funding, and how they should not be mixed up. If it was as simple as pumping more money in, the coonversation would be simpler and many think that is the extent of it. It isn’t. While that political fight happens, you lose more money every year.

Stop the Bleeding

Several towns here have a crippling problem. You actually receive less funding each year than the previous year. To catch up on the history of why this happens, see https://steve4nh.com/2020/03/02/what-is-a-stabilization-grant/ In my district, Charlestown is hit the hardest.

See also https://www.sentinelsource.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/were-working-to-make-school-funding-fair-by-steven-smith/article_3d473efb-0cf5-577b-8b85-b998a96aac5e.html

I filed LSR 2021-076 “relative to the formula for determining funding for an adequate education” to replace the current distribution formula with one that ends the grant reductions, and restores most of the lost funding. This is a standalone bill that can be passed regardless of the larger arguments about education funding sources and is critical to towns hit the hardest, like Charlestown and Langdon.

This new formula is the product of a two year bipartisan study committee. You can read the committee documents and reports for yourself at http://gencourt.state.nh.us/statstudcomm/committees/1365/ For some unknown reason, the current Legislature declared it “dead on arrival” and opted for another 2 year study. The result was that Charlestown lost another $100,000 each year while they formed their new commission and punted the fix another two years down the road, at least. Whatever else happens with education, we need to pass this bill to stop the bleeding. Every year that goes by without this costs Charlestown another $100,000.

Special Education Funding

Everyone agrees that special education funding is a burden on school districts. This is why I cosponsored “relative to state aid to school districts with special education pupils“. This will save districts money by altering just one number in statute.

In calculating the cost of a student whose special education requires additional resources beyond that of a general education student, Special education aid support from the state is based upon the following formula.  (Note: that figures used are approximations and rounded to the nearest 1,000.)

Now apply the change of 3.5 > 2.5

As demonstrated above, by reducing the initial multiplier of 3.5 x’s the estimated state average expenditure, the district’s cost per pupil is reduced, netting a savings to the district.  The current Commission for the purpose of Studying the Cost for the Opportunity of an Adequate Education is working with a cost figure that will most likely exceed the $16,000 figure per pupil as approximated in this communication.  As this figure increases, so will district costs for special education.  Although the commission has not made any recommendations as of this date, it appears likely that the costing of a special education student  (student with IEP) will increase significantly and possibly by a weighted amount of 4 times the cost of a general education pupil + the general education cost.  A district paying 3 x’s that amount prior to receiving the 80% support from the state, will be very expensive.  The reduction to 2.5 x’s will work to better assist the local district serve to reduce funds needed from local property tax.

Transparency

Currently, state aid goes to the district. The district figures out how much incoming fundng they receive, and then bills the towns for the balance. It would be much simpler for the district to figure the cost and have the town pay the bill. Sometimes we manage to claw some of your money back from the state. Sometimes we offset costs with grants. Without this process being more visible, it is hard for the recpients to see the impact clearly. I want that $100,000 reduction to be crystal clear. There has been surprisingly little public outrage over this. My hope is that by making the grant reductions more transaprent, people will help make some noise and support any bills that stop the grant reductions. This is why I have filed “relative to the distribution of adequate education grants“. I met with the Dept. of Education and they report that this is easy to implement, and may realize an efficiency for them.

Math and Transparency over Politics

There were some years where we were able to get enough supplemental municipal grants to almost offset the stabilization grant reductions. Those are not guranteed and you can’t count on them. You deserve to know what the numbers are and be able to count on them. I have heard too any times “I wonder what the Legislature will do wth our funding this time”. Who ever you are voting for, tell them to stop the bleeding and pass the formula.