InDepthNH.org – February 25, 2025
By SUSAN STEARNS
CONCORD, NH – Medicaid is a lifeline for over 187,000 Granite Staters – 13% of NH’s population, including people with mental health and substance misuse conditions, as well as pregnant women, children, people with disabilities, working families, and veterans. As the largest funder of mental health and substance misuse care in the U.S. and in New Hampshire, Medicaid plays a critical role in our entire health care system.
As the Executive Director at NAMI New Hampshire, I know firsthand the impact Medicaid coverage can have on people with mental illness and their families. Medicaid has played a critical role in ensuring my loved one has been able to access essential mental health care – care that has allowed them to live independently in the community. Without Medicaid, my family member would likely become one of many forced to seek care through our community hospitals. For over 12 years, Granite Staters experiencing a mental health crisis have been forced to board in emergency departments across our state waiting days or even weeks for an inpatient bed at a psychiatric hospital, delaying critical mental health care.
Just over a year ago, NH Department of Health and Human Services, NH Hospital Association, NH Community Behavioral Health Association, and NAMI NH embarked upon the Mission Zero initiative, with the shared goal of bringing this practice to an end in our state. Thanks to the committed, collaborative efforts of all the partners, we have seen a decline in the number of those waiting, even reaching zero adults boarding on several occasions in the past two months – something we had not seen in our state in many years. Key to Mission Zero’s success is a robust array of community-based care – New Hampshire cannot sustain this progress without a strong Medicaid program. Mission Zero – for both adults and children – will only be attainable if we protect Medicaid.
For this reason, I am deeply concerned that Congress is considering major cuts to Medicaid that would put access to mental health care at risk for over 187,000 Granite Staters young and old. Should such cuts happen, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to sustain Mission Zero, let alone build upon the progress to date. Indeed, such cuts would likely mean that many of our neighbors would be unable to maintain insurance coverage and therefore unable to access mental health care. In fact, substantial federal funding cuts for Medicaid will not save NH money – instead they would shift the costs to our entire community while also delaying or preventing people from accessing lifesaving care.
NAMI New Hampshire urges Senator Shaheen, Senator Hassan, Rep. Pappas, and Rep. Goodlander to say “no” to any efforts to cap or cut Medicaid funding to our State. We urge our State leaders and all Granite Staters to work together to protect our most vulnerable by protecting Medicaid.
People with mental illness rely upon Medicaid. Protecting Medicaid means protecting Granite Staters. Learn more at nami.org/Medicaid
Susan Stearns is Executive Director of NAMI New Hampshire (National Alliance on Mental Illness).