2001 SESSION

01-0211

01/09

HOUSE BILL 350-FN

COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs

ANALYSIS

This bill allows persons with disabilities to participate in the work incentive program. The bill grants rulemaking authority to the commissioner of the department of health and human services for the purposes of the bill.

This bill is a request of the department of health and human services.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

01-0211

01/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand One

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

67:1 Purpose. In 1999 the general court directed the department of health and human services to investigate how to create better options for transitional public or private health insurance to enable individuals with disabilities to secure and maintain gainful employment without fear of losing health insurance coverage. A diverse work group that included people with disabilities, benefits experts, advocates, and representatives of the department of health and human services met to consider these issues. The general court hereby finds that:

I. Many individuals with disabilities have valuable skills that would be an asset to employers in New Hampshire and that such individuals have a strong desire to be financially independent.

II. Many individuals with disabilities require long-term supports to maintain their independence. In general, employer-sponsored health plans do not offer many of the long-term supports needed by these individuals.

III. Fear of loss of necessary long-term supports prevents many individuals with disabilities from working according to their full capacity, keeping them in poverty and dependent upon cash assistance programs.

IV. The work incentive program established by this act will ensure the availability of long-term supports to workers with disabilities who are medically eligible for medicaid, enabling them to maximize their employment potential.

67:2 New Paragraph; Persons With Disabililties; Participation in the Work Incentive Program. Amend RSA 167:6 by inserting after paragraph VIII the following new paragraph:

IX. For purposes hereof, a person with a disability between 18 and 64 years of age who is eligible to participate in the work incentive program shall be eligible for medical assistance as medically needy or categorically needy. The department of health and human services shall establish a sliding fee scale for participants to contribute to the cost of medical assistance. Participants in the work incentive program shall be employed at the time of enrollment.

67:3 New Paragraph; Rulemaking Added; Work Incentive Program. Amend RSA 167:3-c by inserting after paragraph XI the following new paragraph:

XII. The work incentive program under RSA 167:6, IX as follows:

(a) Eligibility for the program, including medical need and asset and income limits.

(b) Participant employment requirements.

(c) Premiums to be paid by participants, on a sliding fee scale based on the net income of program participants.

(d) Termination of participation for nonpayment of premium or other good cause.

(e) Requirements that the participant disclose any employer-sponsored health insurance available to the participant.

67:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

(Approved: June 15, 2001)

(Effective Date: August 14, 2001)