HB 244  - AS INTRODUCED

 

 

2021 SESSION

21-0283

04/08

 

HOUSE BILL 244

 

AN ACT relative to the membership and duties of the joint health care reform oversight committee.

 

SPONSORS: Rep. Abramson, Rock. 37

 

COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill amends the membership and duties of the joint health care reform oversight committee.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

21-0283

04/08

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One

 

AN ACT relative to the membership and duties of the joint health care reform oversight committee.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  Joint Health Care Reform Oversight Committee; Members and Duties Added.  Amend RSA 420-N:3 to read as follows:

420-N:3  Joint Health Care Reform Oversight Committee Established.  

I.  There is established a joint health care reform oversight committee consisting of [6 members as follows] the following members:

(a)  Three members of the senate, appointed by the senate president.

(b)  Three members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.

(c)  Five members with experience working in the medical field with experience in minimizing the cost of medical treatment, appointed by the governor.

II.  The terms of the members shall be for the biennium [and shall be coterminous with their membership in the general court] and the chairperson may reappoint any member.  The oversight committee shall elect a chairperson from its membership.  The oversight committee shall meet at the call of the chairperson who may call a meeting as often as necessary.  The oversight committee shall require [4] 6 members for a quorum.

III.  The committee shall provide legislative oversight, policy direction, and recommendations for legislation with respect to the Act, known as "Obamacare," as it determines appropriate.  The committee shall also review existing rules, bulletins, or policies adopted pursuant to 2010, 243 and may require the repeal of such rules, bulletins, or policies. In addition, the committee shall study:

(a)  Recommending that Congress repeal the federal Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, of 2009, known as "Obamacare."  

(b)  The feasibility of implementing free market driven health care plans and “a la carte” insurance plans free from government mandates in New Hampshire.

(c)  Allowing individuals and employers to purchase health insurance plans across state lines.

(d)  The “portability” of health care plans.

(e)  Increasing the use of market forces to improve health care and lower costs.

(f)  Improving access to the information necessary to make informed health care decisions, including information about the quality and cost of services provided by physicians, hospitals, and insurers.

(g)  The moral and ethical right of informed consent with regard to all medical treatment and intervention.

(h)  The special needs of seniors, including opportunities for personalized home health care and less expensive alternatives to hospital stays and prescription medication.

(i)  Ways to ensure that veterans receive the benefits they have rightfully earned and deserve by making all medical facilities available to qualified veterans.

IV.  The committee shall [make] submit a report, together with any recommendations for legislation, to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chairpersons of the house commerce and consumer affairs and the health, human services and elderly affairs committees and the senate commerce and health and human services committees by [December 1, 2011] October 1, 2021 and annually thereafter.

2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect upon its passage.