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Committee advances HB 524 with amendment after questions on Vaccine Association finances
Summary
The committee unanimously approved an amendment to HB 524 that adds reporting and oversight measures for the New Hampshire Vaccine Association and creates a study mechanism; state health officials and the association asked for time to review fiscal details before implementation.
The Ways and Means Committee voted 20–0 in favor of an amendment to HB 524 that revises oversight and reporting requirements for the New Hampshire Vaccine Association and directs distributions on a fiscal-year basis.
Representative Ullery introduced an amendment (identified as 2982h in the record) intended to increase transparency about annual receipts, distributions and administrative costs, require deposits and disbursements to be reconciled on a fiscal-year basis, and establish a study or commission to review the association’s function and efficacy. The committee adopted the amendment and later recommended the bill OTPA as amended by a 20–0 vote.
Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Vaccine Association attended. DHHS Bureau Chief Megan Hetty and legislative liaison Abby Rogers asked the committee to allow the association and department finance staff the opportunity to review the amendment language because the association’s assessment and reimbursement mechanisms span calendar and fiscal years and involve a truing-up process. Patrick Miller, executive director of the New Hampshire Vaccine Association, told the committee that the association assesses insurers on a calendar-year basis but that the state’s appropriations and accounting are fiscal-year based; he explained that some funds naturally remain in the account at fiscal year-end and are later adjusted.
Miller also said the association’s administrative costs were 0.69% for the last year and that external audits produced no findings. DHHS staff reminded the committee that the association’s dedicated fund is already part of the joint legislative committee on dedicated funds’ oversight and that the department recently presented its five-year review to that panel.
Committee members and agency representatives asked that, if the committee adopted the amendment now, staff remain willing to propose a floor tweak if the association’s financial manager identifies unintended consequences in the timing language. Representative Ullery indicated intent to include a sunset provision in any floor amendment should it be recommended.
Votes and next steps: The committee approved amendment 2982h and then voted OTPA on HB 524 with the amendment, both by voice/roll call 20–0. The committee placed HB 524 on the regular calendar rather than consent to allow for the possibility of a floor amendment.
