This bill establishes an Uncompensated Health Care Fund within the New Hampshire Department of Insurance to support non-profit safety-net health care providers delivering medically necessary services to uninsured individuals. The fund will be financed through a surcharge on commercial health insurance carriers, reinsurers, and certain self-insured plans, with the collected funds being nonlapsing and continually appropriated for the fund's purposes. Notably, the bill includes a provision that prohibits the costs of the assessment from being passed on to consumers or included in premium costs, ensuring that the financial burden does not fall on individuals or employer groups. The program is set to take effect on January 1, 2026, if enacted by July 1, 2025, with assessments collected quarterly starting in 2026.

Additionally, the bill creates an advisory committee to recommend criteria for determining the annual level of uncompensated care to be funded and to establish allocation formulas for qualified providers. It introduces new provisions for annual assessments related to "uncompensated care," defined as medically necessary care for uninsured individuals ineligible for government programs. However, concerns have been raised regarding the ambiguous definition of "uncompensated care," which could lead to unintended consequences, such as disincentivizing insurance coverage and increasing the financial burden on health insurers. The bill is expected to result in increased expenditures for the Insurance Department due to the need for additional staff, with fiscal impacts anticipated after FY 2025.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 404-G:1, 404-G:2, 6:12