Hassan says Medicaid expansion, other bills will help fight heroin crisis
House to vote on measures this week
This week, house lawmakers will vote on a measure governor Maggie Hassan calls critical in the war on addiction in New Hampshire: the expansion of Medicaid.
And while opposition remains to that part of the Affordable Care Act, the governor is also pushing to loosen the purse strings on other measures designed to combat the heroin and opioid crisis.
Opponents want Medicaid expansion at the very least to include some sort of employment benchmark for benefits.
"What we are seeing is a lot of folks on Medicaid expansion who really need to get into the work force. And we can’t give them an incentive not to because it’s holding back our economy,” said Greg Moore, Americans For Prosperity.
Nearly 50,000 New Hampshire residents count on the program for health coverage, and as the state battles a heroin and opioid crisis, the governor insists the expansion of Medicaid will expand what some are calling for most: treatment.
"What I hear a lot from providers for substance abuse treatment is that they’re waiting to hear whether this program gets reauthorized,” said Hassan.
Outside of Medicaid expansion, Hassan is pushing quick passage of several other proposals to combat the crisis.
Senate bill 464 calls for a $3.2 million measure to establish a statewide drug court.
Senate bill 533 would provide $5 million for the governor’s commission on alcohol and drug abuse prevention.
Another bill, SB-485, would provide nearly $2 million in grants for local law enforcement agencies like Manchester.
And if the argument against boils down to affordability, Hassan pointed out state revenues this fiscal year are ahead of projections by $60 million.
“So there is the money there to invest in combating the opioid crisis and it’s something we can’t afford not to do,” said Hassan.
And while there appears to be a consensus in Concord to take several steps to combat the heroin crisis, some are questioning why the governor has yet to hire a new drug czar to oversee the state's response.
On that front, the governor’s office said it is aggressively interviewing candidates to find the right person for the important job.