Maggie Hassan on Health Care

Repair our mental health system; take pressure off ERs

We can all agree that our mental health system is deeply strained. And though we won't fix all of our challenges at once, it is time to resume our efforts to repair our mental health system. We must phase in changes with a systematic approach that will strengthen all aspects of mental health care in our state and move us toward more community-based care.

And that is what this budget does. Over the next two years, it will add a new designated receiving facility to take the pressure off local emergency rooms and provide more appropriate critical treatment environments. It will add new acute psychiatric residential treatment beds, in addition to the beds at the state hospital. And it will focus on treating people in their communities, with 75 new community residence beds

ObamaCare helps working families afford health insurance

• Wrote a bill to bring transparency and fairness to health care costs across the state, which passed the Senate 24-0 in 2010
• Partnered with Republicans and business leaders to replace a failed law that let insurance companies discriminate against sick workers and drove up health insurance costs for businesses across NH
• Helped pass a law to enable children to remain on their parent's health insurance until the age of 26
• Sponsored Connor's Law, which requires insurances companies to cover treatment for autism