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Bill would end quarterly reporting on expanded postpartum Medicaid coverage; department supports repeal with suggested endpoint
Summary
HB 455 would repeal a standing quarterly reporting requirement for New Hampshire's expanded postpartum Medicaid coverage. The Medicaid agency supports ending perpetual quarterly reports but discussed whether the repeal should include a defined sunset date.
The committee considered HB 455, a bill to repeal a permanent quarterly reporting requirement tied to an expanded postpartum Medicaid coverage provision. Sponsors said the reporting requirement was useful during program implementation but may no longer need to be ongoing.
Representative Lucy Weber introduced the measure on behalf of Representative Jess Edwards and said the bill would repeal the quarterly reporting requirement as of July 1, 2025, so the department would no longer be required to submit the report every quarter. Henry Littman, the state’s Medicaid director, told the committee the department supported the concept of an endpoint for quarterly reporting but said the Health and Human Services Oversight Committee and agency staff had discussed an alternative endpoint that would expire at the end of the 2027 biennium.
Littman said the original legislation created a permanent report and that stakeholders suggested a time-limited reporting requirement would be more appropriate now that the program is established. He confirmed the department supports ending the ongoing quarterly requirement and said a sunset date tied to the end of the biennium was discussed at oversight.
Committee members asked drafting questions about statutory text and whether the bill’s language properly deletes or replaces the existing statutory subsection. Representative Woods sought clarification from legislative services about insertion and repeal clauses; Representative McLean asked whether some periodic reporting should remain (for example, yearly) rather than ending entirely. Littman said the department would continue to supply the oversight committee with updates on request and that other ad hoc reporting has been provided for similar program rollouts.
Where things stand: Medicaid officials support removing a perpetual quarterly report; committee members asked technical drafting questions and discussed whether limited periodic reporting should continue or whether sunset timing should be tied to the 2027 biennium. The public hearing closed with no vote recorded.
