AND THEN THERE'S GOOD GOVERNANCE:

In 2018, New Hampshire reformed its Medicaid expansion program to transition eligible citizens off the individual exchange and into managed care. In doing so, it produced immediate relief on premiums in 2019.

Over the course of the following year, the state launched the process of creating a reinsurance program that would further lower premiums. Reinsurance is a reimbursement mechanism that protects insurers from high medical claims for beneficiaries with complex and costly medical needs. States receive federal funding for the program based on the amount the federal government saves on "advance premium tax credits" resulting from the program. That waiver went into effect this year and yielded a 16% premium decrease.

Further, the federal government listened to states, like New Hampshire, that requested additional funding to account for federal savings generated as more individuals entered the market during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will help keep premiums stable next year.

In summation, these actions by state leaders and the Insurance Department not only preserved the state's individual market at a time of uncertainty, but strengthened it by expanding access to care and lowering premiums. Since 2018, New Hampshire's individual market benchmark plan premiums have decreased by 35% and enrollment has increased, including 5% growth at the start of 2021 from 2020.

Those actions also resulted in a highly successful special enrollment period in New Hampshire that ran from February to August of this year. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Sununu asked federal officials to offer a special enrollment period and earlier this year the Biden administration made that opportunity available. More than 9,000 Granite Staters took advantage of the enrollment period to obtain or enhance their coverage. That is more than double the average number of people who did so during that period in 2019 and 2020.

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