Chris Sununu on Health Care

	Chris Sununu on Health Care

The demand for mental health services remains high

The demand for mental health services for adults and children remains high. Not unsurprisingly, the lack of mental health workforce continues to be something that holds us back. That's why this budget provides Student Debt Relief to encourage our students to choose a future in these rewarding fields and stay to work with NH Citizens. We are proposing an across the board Medicaid rate increase to help recruit and retain these critical workers. Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the N.H. legislature , Feb 14, 2023

Republicans should have kept negotiating to repeal Obamacare

Sununu said that his party had abandoned efforts to repeal Obamacare and that it should have kept negotiating on what he called "health care reform." In May 2017, Sununu and other Republican governors signed a letter to then-House Speaker Paul Ryan in which they claimed that Obamacare was "collapsing" and asked that he vote for the American Health Care Act, saying: "The President and Congress must act now to repeal the Affordable Care Act to protect the citizens we serve in the states." Source: American Independent on 2024 New Hampshire Governor race , Feb 9, 2023

Make permanent emergency COVID medical licenses

Bill SB277 co-sponsored by 6 Democrats and 13 Republicans: This bill extends the expiration date for the emergency or temporary licensing of health care workers enacted in SB155-FN (2021), and converts the temporary or emergency licenses issued to permanent licenses.

Bill Excerpts:

Any medical provider previously licensed to practice in another jurisdiction within the last 3 years;
Senior nursing students, who are scheduled to graduate within 5 months
Emergency licenses issued during the COVID-19 pandemic shall be converted to a permanent license

Legislative Outcome: Passed Committee Report 19-0 on 04/26/2022; motion adopted by voice vote on 05/04/2022 in House and on 05/12/2022 in Senate; signed by Governor Sununu on 06/03/2022 Source: BillTrack50.com on New Hampshire voting record: SB277 , Jun 3, 2022

We stopped the federal vaccine mandates, for personal choice

New Hampshire has consistently ranked among the safest states in the country for COVID -- now having one of the lowest hospitalization rates in America--and we did it without sacrificing the freedoms we hold dear.

We kept businesses open
We stopped the federal vaccine mandates
We let individuals, businesses, and communities decide what worked best of them

But we also didn't go to extremes and tell small businesses who they could hire or fire. Source: 2022 State of the State Address to New Hampshire legislature , Feb 17, 2022

Our 10-Year Mental-Health Plan continues to be fully funded

When I became Governor, I often said the mental-health crisis was New Hampshire's unspoken crisis. It had been neglected for years. But we changed that. This budget continues levels of funding for our mental-health programs, because, frankly, we all know that too much is at stake to let up. Our 10-Year Mental-Health Plan continues to be fully funded, with funding for additional designated receiving facility beds to solve the ER boarding crisis, to more local Mobile Crisis Teams, and more. Source: 2021 State of the State Address: New Hampshire legislature , Feb 11, 2021

Allow importation of prescription drugs from Canada

We all know that a critical issue facing our citizens, especially our senior citizens, is the cost of prescription drugs. We know must lower our prescription drug prices, and it starts with allowing the importation of drugs from Canada, greater transparency in pricing and preventing price gouging of low-income families. Source: 2020 Alabama State of the State address , Feb 13, 2020

Put suicide prevention for veterans at the forefront

Another area we are making strides in is suicide prevention for our veterans. I am proud to announce that the state is partnering with the Department of Veterans Affairs to combine, and streamline all of our resources, to put suicide prevention for our veterans at the forefront. The first order of business is reaching out to every single New Hampshire veteran, to let them know every federal and state resource available to them and ensure there is no wrong door to getting mental health services. Source: 2020 Alabama State of the State address , Feb 13, 2020

Import Canadian prescription drugs

A proposal to import prescription drugs from Canada to New Hampshire attracted bipartisan support winning praise from both the Democrat sponsoring the bill and the Republican he wants to replace. Sen. Dan Feltes told the Senate Commerce Committee that New Hampshire residents are too often choosing between their health and their financial security. Immediately following Feltes, Gov. Chris Sununu, praised not just Feltes' bill but others before the committee. Source: Washington Times on 2020 New Hampshire Governor race , Jan 21, 2020

Medicaid compromise has worked for 50,000 citizens

Another key component of growing our workforce is New Hampshire's work requirement for able bodied individuals, who are part of our Medicaid Expansion program. These provisions of Medicaid help lift people out of poverty by empowering them with the dignity of work and self-reliability. I know that leaders of both parties stand united and committed to the compromise reached last year helping to ensure healthcare for 50,000 of our citizens. Source: 2019 State of the State address to New Hampshire legislature , Jan 3, 2019

State must invest in mental healthcare system

We have tasked Health and Human Services with developing a comprehensive 10 year plan for the mental health system. We provided funding to establish 60 new beds for community based transitional housing and created a fourth rapid response mobile crisis unit to divert hospitalizations for mental health issues. It is unacceptable for citizens in mental health crises to be waiting for treatment for weeks on end. Source: 2018 New Hampshire State of the State address , Feb 15, 2018

Push for a true accounting of our Medicaid program

Heath Care continues to be an area of critical need in our state--across the entire country, frankly. And where we have failed in the past, I am pushing for a true accounting of our Medicaid program, so we can reconcile estimated Medicaid payments to actual costs. And as we go forward, be sure that we won't wait two years to check in on them again.

This budget requires the Commissioner of Health and Human Services to make quarterly reports, not just to me, but to Legislative leadership about where we actually stand on our true costs so we can become a more nimble government that is responsive not just reactive. As governor, I won't make people wait until after an election to discover we may have a shortfall. We have to be transparent. We have to be honest with the people and honest with ourselves.

Source: 2017 New Hampshire State of the State address , Feb 9, 2017

Voted against funding Planned Parenthood state contracts

Sununu said he will not change his position against funding two Planned Parenthood state contracts. Sununu cast the deciding vote against two contracts for women's health services in August, amidst a controversy surrounding the posting of a secret video recording of Planned Parenthood officials allegedly discussing the illegal sale of fetal tissue. When voting against the $639,000 in funding, he suggested he was looking to "just take a pause," to gather more information. Source: Portsmouth-Herald on 2016 New Hampshire governor race , Jan 29, 2016

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