Bill Text: NH HB263 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relative to the lifetime Medicaid limit.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-10-26 - House Retained Bill - Executive Session: 11/1/2011 10:00 Amendment Legislative Office Building 302 [HB263 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2011-HB263-Introduced.html
HB 263-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
01/05
HOUSE BILL 263-FN
AN ACT relative to the lifetime Medicaid limit.
COMMITTEE: Commerce and Consumer Affairs
This bill revises the law regarding the lifetime Medicaid limit from 60 months to 24 months.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0142
01/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT relative to the lifetime Medicaid limit.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Hampshire Employment Program and Family Assistance Program. Amend RSA 167:83, II(p) to read as follows:
(p) Establishing the Medicaid lifetime limit for assistance for the New Hampshire employment program and the family assistance program at 24 months.
(q) Any other matters necessary to implement the program in a manner that promotes the purpose and goals of this subdivision.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
11-0142
Revised 08/26/11
HB 263 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to the lifetime Medicaid limit.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Health and Human Services and the New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill may decrease state revenue and expenditures, and increase local expenditures by indeterminable amounts in FY 2012 and in each year thereafter. This bill will have no fiscal impact on local revenue, or county revenue or expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Health and Human Services indicates this bill establishes a lifetime limit on Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) related Medicaid. Federal law provides for a lifetime limit on the receipt of TANF financial assistance of 60 months for participants in The New Hampshire Employment Program. There is no federal limit for the Family Assistance component of TANF and no federal provision for a limitation on the availability of medical assistance. The Department assumed:
• The limitation would apply to adults and not children since all New Hampshire children up to 185% of poverty are eligible for Medicaid.
• The limitation would not apply to pregnant women who are eligible for Medicaid under a different category of eligibility.
• The limit would only apply to medical assistance related to TANF and such only assistance received as an adult would count toward the time limit. The result would mean eligibility for medical assistance would cease at 24 months while financial and psycho-social supports could continue for up to 60 months.
• Based on caseload data, the department estimates 1,000 non-pregnant adult TANF recipients have used more than 24 months of TANF related medical assistance. The average member per month cost of medical assistance for this group was $172 in December 2010. The medical assistance provided through Medicaid is funded 50% with state funds and 50% with federal funds. The annual cost of these services is $2,064,000 of which $1,032,000 is paid from state general funds.
• Extended medical coverage would also end. This currently provides continued medical coverage after one’s wages exceed the TANF program limits as a bridge between public assistance and self-sufficiency.
• The bill would require an exception to certain provisions in the federal Medicaid and TANF laws.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states the reduction in TANF related medical assistance may result in increased demand for welfare assistance from cities and town, however this amount cannot be determined.
