The Conspiracy would like to draw your attention to this preemptive Press Release from the office of NH Governor John Lynch. The subject is SB 125, which was predicted to bring about the departure of health insurance companies from NH. The bill has not yet even become law, and two companies are already promising to leave the state (this was predicted by those who opposed the passage of SB125). As you read the release, note the defensive nature of the language, the flippant manner in which Pam Walsh (the press sec) dismisses the loss of two businesses that have now been regulated out of the market, and the things that the Governor's office avoids mentioning about SB110, which was the half-hearted attempt made during the Benson Adminstration to lift the regulatory burden from the backs of insurance businesses in NH. For a better understanding of the insurance market in NH, refer to our earlier post on the health insurance industry, here, at the Liberty Conspiracy Homepage. The press release follows, and more news on matters of freedom will appear in a subsequent notice on the site...

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For Immediate Release: Contact: Pamela Walsh
Thursday, November 3, 2005 (603) 271-2121
(603) 491-7124 (cell)

Governor, Insurance Commissioner Say State
On Track To Implement SB 125 in January

New Health Insurance Law Will Return Fairness, Stability
To Small Business Health Insurance Market

CONCORD - Gov. John Lynch and Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny said today that the state will be ready in January to implement SB 125, a new health insurance law that will return fairness and stability to the small business health insurance market.

"When it goes into effect on January 1, SB 125 will restore fairness and stability to our small business health insurance market," Gov. Lynch said. "This new law will spread risk more equitably so that one sick employee will not cause a small business's health insurance rates to skyrocket. It will protect small businesses from rates that are unreasonably higher than the average rate. And this law will promote the stability of rates over time, something our small businesses desperately need.

On January 1, SB 125 will replace New Hampshire's existing small business health insurance law, commonly known as SB 110. That law distorted New Hampshire's small business insurance market, allowing insurance companies to discriminate against sick workers and to charge more for companies in certain parts of the state. SB 110 led to dramatic health insurance price hikes for many of New Hampshire's small businesses.

"This law will stabilize and moderate rate increases by spreading risk fairly and reasonably across the small group market, but it will not end them. This law is a first step, our businesses, taxpayers and citizens can't afford for it to be our last," Gov. Lynch said.

While some are claiming that the law will force insurance companies to leave the state. Only two have said they will, and they only insure 35 people. Meanwhile, since the passage of SB 125, a major insurer is looking to enter the New Hampshire market.

Even outside of the impacts of SB 110, the health care cost increases that New Hampshire has been experiencing are not sustainable. Those increases are a result of trend - increased use, increased prescription drug costs, the costs of the uninsured.

"They are increases that we are all seeing - small businesses, large business, individuals, and state government," Gov. Lynch said. "And it is a challenge that we must address together as a state."

Gov. Lynch has created the Citizens' Health Initiative, bringing together businesses, consumers, health care providers, and elected officials to recommend ways to control the growth in health care costs in New Hampshire while improving quality.

In addition in the past year, Gov. Lynch signed legislation creating a screening panel to reduce health care costs by screening out frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits; Gov. Lynch worked to increase the state's investment in the Children's Health Insurance Program; and the state has created a comprehensive health care information system, to give consumers and businesses information about health care choices and costs. The departments of Insurance and Health and Human Services will also be collecting and analyzing claims data, so citizens can see how healthcare dollars are spent.

The Insurance Department has taken a number of steps to make sure the state is ready when SB 125 goes into effect, including:

Establishing The Small Employer Health Reinsurance Pool: The reinsurance pool is designed to encourage carriers to participate in New Hampshire's small employer health insurance market by providing a mechanism that carriers can use to spread the costs of covering groups with unusually high health care expenses. This mechanism will not affect an employee's coverage.

The Board of Directors of the Reinsurance Pool has been elected, and a plan of operation, articles of incorporation, and bylaws have been filed and approved by the Insurance Department. The standardized family health statement, reinsurance premium rates and rating methodologies have also been filed and approved so that carriers in the small employer market will be able to reinsure risks into the pool commencing January 1, 2006.

Creating the Commissioner's Advisory Committee on SB 125 Implementation: Commissioner Sevigny has appointed an advisory committee consisting of carriers, brokers and business representatives to ensure an orderly transition to the new rating rules on January 1, 2006. The carrier members of the committee have agreed to provide with all rate quotes a rate calculation disclosure form designed to provide small business some basic information about how their quoted rate was calculated.