NH subcommittee votes to recommend ITL on bill that would require insurers to pay ambulance bills in full

A New Hampshire House Commerce and Consumer Affairs subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend Inexpedient to Legislate (ITL) on House Bill 185 after more than two hours of debate about competing proposals to address ambulance reimbursement and balance billing.

HB185 would have required health insurers to reimburse ambulance providers the full amount billed when there is no agreed-upon contracted rate. Representative Gibbs moved to recommend ITL on HB185; the motion passed unanimously, with the clerk recording seven ayes during the roll call.

Committee members spent the session comparing three approaches: HB185 (insurers pay the billed amount when no contract exists), HB725 (a statutory reimbursement floor set at 325% of the Medicare rate and a prohibition on balance billing), and HB316 (a framework to hire an outside consultant to analyze provider costs and set a recommended default rate, with periodic updates). The Insurance Department and providers described the differences in how each bill would affect providers, insurers and municipal budgets.

Michelle Heaton, director of Life and Health at the New Hampshire Insurance Department, told the panel that…