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Committee reopens HB 524, adds study committee and 90‑day settlement window; adopts amendment and recommends passage 17‑0
Summary
After unwinding a prior amendment, the committee held a public hearing on HB 524, heard testimony from a Republican vaccine injury caucus representative and DHHS and Vaccine Association staff, adopted a revised amendment (3021H) creating a term-limited study committee and a 90‑day settlement buffer, and voted OTPA as amended, 17‑0.
The House Ways and Means Committee reopened prior action on House Bill 524 to unwind an earlier amendment and hold a public hearing after concerns about amendment germaneness. The committee ultimately adopted amendment 3021H, which adds a study committee to review the New Hampshire Vaccine Association and includes a provision allowing DHHS up to 90 days to settle assessments, and then voted "ought to pass as amended" on HB 524, 17-0.
Representative Robert Wherry of Hudson testified in support of the amendment on behalf of the Republican Vaccine Injury Caucus, saying the proposal "establish[es] a study committee" to evaluate the vaccine association and noting that "annually the DHHS...incurs a cost exceeding $500,000 annually to support the vaccine program operation." Wherry provided three attachments to the committee: a schedule of annual costs, a legal opinion about the association's position on assessments, and documentation of recent recognitions for previous speakers.
DHHS and the New Hampshire Vaccine Association fielded committee questions. Colleen Smith of DHHS and Shelly Swanson, DHHS finance director, explained that DHHS submitted language accepted into the amendment and that the 90‑day language was intended to "give a little bit of a buffer to make sure the payments were all settled." Patrick Miller, executive director of the New Hampshire Vaccine Association, described the association's board composition and confirmed the association's position on reimbursement authority and board membership. He said the board currently has 10 members, including representatives designated by the House speaker and Senate president and three seats for the top payers that fund the program; the payers named in testimony were Anthem, Harvard Pilgrim and Cigna.
In executive session the committee first reversed its earlier procedural action (reconsideration motions earlier in the meeting) and then considered amendment 3021H. The amendment passed on a recorded vote of 17 in favor, 0 opposed. The committee then voted "ought to pass as amended" on HB 524 with the adopted amendment, also 17-0. The sponsor told the committee the study committee is term-limited under standing rules and will conclude once its report is filed or by the automatic statutory end date (the sponsor indicated the committee expects hearings through 2026). The amendment requires an annual reporting/deposit schedule and establishes the study committee's scope; it sets a reporting deadline in late 2026.
The committee recorded and preserved questions and answers in the hearing, including exchange about the vaccine association's board selection process, who the top payers are, and whether Anthem's prior Medicare change affected program participation (witnesses said the program covers only children under 19 and is unaffected by Anthem's Medicare decisions). The DHHS representative reiterated that reimbursement of DHHS costs had been requested but the association maintained it lacked statutory authority to make assessments to reimburse DHHS, which helped motivate the study committee request.
The committee placed HB 524, as amended, on the consent list for the floor report. No dissenting recorded votes were recorded at final passage in committee.
