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Committee opposes health care exchange
CONCORD — A House committee voted on Thursday to endorse a bill that would bar the state from cooperating in the establishment of a health care exchange, a move praised by House Republican leaders who have waged a dogged fight against “Obamacare.”
"House Bill 1297 will slow the progress of Obamacare in New Hampshire by prohibiting state officials from implementing or aiding the federal government in implementing a state exchange,” said House Speaker William O'Brien, R-Mont Vernon, in a statement. “Creating an exchange would only entrench Obamacare in New Hampshire and serve as a contract with the federal government that the state agrees to pick up the tab for the health-care mandate.”
The House Commerce and Consumers Affairs Committee voted 10-6 on Thursday to recommend passage of the bill to the full House.
Earlier on Thursday, O'Brien and House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt, R-Salem, testified in support of House Resolution 29, which would call on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to rescind a controversial policy requiring health insurers of religiously-affiliated institutions to provide contraceptives without co-pays. The policy has been strongly opposed by Catholic organizations as an infringement on religious freedom.
Reiterating comments made at a press conference on Monday to introduce the bill, Bettencourt called the policy blatantly unconstitutional.
Referring to arguments made by Obama administration officials that Catholic hospitals should be accountable to the federal policy since they receive funding from Medicare and Medicaid, Bettencourt said: “Dollars from Washington do not each carry a rider noting that their transmission deprives recipients of all Constitutional protections.
If they did, retired Americans could be politically silenced by their Social Security checks.”
State Democratic leaders have defended President Obama's health care policy and the contraception mandate, in particular a compromise plan that shifted the coverage requirement from organizations to insurers.
HB 1297 also has had its critics, including the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire, which has argued that it makes more sense to comply with the national health-care law and create an exchange, rather risk having one imposed on the state by the federal government.
"House Bill 1297 will slow the progress of Obamacare in New Hampshire by prohibiting state officials from implementing or aiding the federal government in implementing a state exchange,” said House Speaker William O'Brien, R-Mont Vernon, in a statement. “Creating an exchange would only entrench Obamacare in New Hampshire and serve as a contract with the federal government that the state agrees to pick up the tab for the health-care mandate.”
The House Commerce and Consumers Affairs Committee voted 10-6 on Thursday to recommend passage of the bill to the full House.
Earlier on Thursday, O'Brien and House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt, R-Salem, testified in support of House Resolution 29, which would call on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to rescind a controversial policy requiring health insurers of religiously-affiliated institutions to provide contraceptives without co-pays. The policy has been strongly opposed by Catholic organizations as an infringement on religious freedom.
Reiterating comments made at a press conference on Monday to introduce the bill, Bettencourt called the policy blatantly unconstitutional.
Referring to arguments made by Obama administration officials that Catholic hospitals should be accountable to the federal policy since they receive funding from Medicare and Medicaid, Bettencourt said: “Dollars from Washington do not each carry a rider noting that their transmission deprives recipients of all Constitutional protections.
If they did, retired Americans could be politically silenced by their Social Security checks.”
State Democratic leaders have defended President Obama's health care policy and the contraception mandate, in particular a compromise plan that shifted the coverage requirement from organizations to insurers.
HB 1297 also has had its critics, including the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire, which has argued that it makes more sense to comply with the national health-care law and create an exchange, rather risk having one imposed on the state by the federal government.