NH Union Leader – September 30, 2025
By KEVIN LANDRIGAN, Staff Writer
A House Finance Committee working group is recommending creation of a study committee rather than legislation that would require all substance abuse providers be state-licensed. A House working group endorsed a study committee rather than legislation to require all substance abuse providers to be state-licensed. Human service advocates maintain the lack of licensing has allowed under-performing providers to give treatment to addicts they said can do more harm than good.
The panel voted 6-4 along party lines with all Republicans backing the study committee.
House Democrats on the panel favored an amendment that would put the Legislature on record as supporting the licensure of providers in the next two-year state budget that starts on July 1, 2027. There are 46 organizations at 76 different sites that are eligible to serve patients receiving Medicaid, the state/federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled. There are only nine programs currently licensed with the state, officials said.
“We don’t have a sense of the landscape because they are not contracted with the department or Medicaid-enrolled providers,” said Jennifer O’Higgins with the state Division of Behavioral Health. As amended, the leftover bill (HB 751) from the 2025 session would cost an estimated $210,000 a year. Jake Berry, vice president for New Futures, a nonpartisan health advocacy group, said licensing would give the public confidence that all providers would be qualified. “We spend millions of dollars on the state and federal funding treatment network that is weakened by anyone not following best practices,” Berry said.
“Some of these people have been through multiple programs. Some of them had really good experiences and some very negative ones,” said Joshua Colwell, vice president of Brighter Day Recovery and a former addict. Rep. Gary Daniels, R-Milford, said a study committee could help better identify the number of these providers and how much resources would be needed to license them. “One Legislature should not tie the hands of the next one” elected in November 2026, Daniels said.
Rep. Laura Telerski, D-Nashua, said lawmakers should adopt a policy as it would give the Department of Health and Human Services more than a year to prepare to implement it.
“The time has come to move forward, to provide that structure and put it into statute so we can make progress on it,” Telerski said. Rep. Maureen Mooney, R-Merrimack, noted the agency already has its hands full trying to find $51 million in spending reductions, a target included in the budget Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed last June. The panel did unanimously recommend support for the amended form of one spending bill (HB 704) to provide $180,000 next year for the state’s Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP). As written, the money would only be spent if there are “surplus funds available for it,” Mooney said.
Next Step: The full House Finance Committee will vote on the recommendation later this fall.
Outlook: Given the GOP majority and tight state budget picture, the House is expected to approve this study committee.