Do You Want Tax Hikes to Pay Insurance Company Executives?
In 2018, New Hampshire legislators overwhelmingly voted in favor of a House bill rejecting insurance company control of Medicaid long-term care — also known as Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS). The decision stemmed from concerns about the repercussions for long-term care providers.
A House committee report highlighted worries about diminished reimbursement rates, potentially jeopardizing “the organizations which provide those services, including county nursing homes.” For those in need, the implications were serious.
One woman testified about her daughter with Down syndrome receiving home care, and her father with Alzheimer’s in a nursing home. She stated that MLTSS “would be devastating for the future well-being of my family.” Others shared their experiences. The parents of a daughter with a rare condition wrote about “an abundance of issues with medical appointments and prescriptions” under managed care. The parents of a son with another rare condition expressed that they doubted insurers would adequately care for their child, who has severe mental retardation and other challenges.
Seven years later, why is the idea of MLTSS resurfacing in the New Hampshire House?
It’s not as if health insurers have become paragons of compassion. The health news organization STAT reported that the nation’s largest health insurer “pressured its medical staff to cut off payments for seriously ill patients in lockstep with a computer algorithm’s calculations, denying rehabilitation care for older and disabled Americans as profits soared[.]”
Robby Martin, whose father was a nursing home resident, joined a lawsuit against the insurer after his father’s coverage was cut, eventually leading to his death. Horror stories of authorization delays and denials are not uncommon. Putting profit-seeking middlemen between the state and long-term care providers, particularly when Medicaid payments already fall short, is not a sound plan.
New Hampshire has the nation’s second-oldest population, which could make it a target for insurer greed. Medicaid long-term care is largely funded by property taxes. Do you want tax hikes to line the pockets of insurance company executives? The CEO of one insurer actively involved in MLTSS business in other states earned $18.6 million in 2023.
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, in its annual report to Congress on March 15, estimated that federal taxpayers will spend $84 billion more on “Medicare Advantage” insurers in 2025 than they would have through traditional Medicare fee-for-service. The Medicare Part A trust fund is projected to be depleted by 2036.
Given the trends of insurance company senior care denials and gaming of taxpayer dollars, why would New Hampshire welcome the same problems with its Medicaid program? It’s a question you need to ask your state representative. Let’s protect Granite State seniors.
Brendan Williams, President and CEO of the New Hampshire Health Care Association.
