White House Announces State-by-State Reports

The Affordable Care Act: Immediate Benefits for NH

Small business tax credits.  22,600 small businesses in New Hampshire could be helped by a new small business tax credit that makes it easier for businesses to provide coverage to their workers and makes premiums more affordable.(1)  Small businesses pay, on average, 18 percent more than large businesses for the same coverage

Closing the Medicare Part D donut hole. Last year, roughly 17,400 Medicare beneficiaries in New Hampshire hit the donut hole, or gap in Medicare Part D drug coverage, and received no extra help to defray the cost of their prescription drugs.(2) Medicare beneficiaries in New Hampshire who hit the gap this year will automatically be mailed a one-time $250 rebate check. These checks will begin to be mailed to beneficiaries in mid-June and will be mailed monthly throughout the year as new beneficiaries hit the donut hole. The new law continues to provide additional discounts for seniors on Medicare in the years ahead and completely closes the donut hole by 2020. 

Support for health coverage for early retirees. An estimated 16,300 people from New Hampshire retired before they were eligible for Medicare and have health coverage through their former employers. Unfortunately, the number of firms that provide health coverage to their retirees has decreased over time.(3)  Beginning June 1, 2010, a $5 billion temporary early retiree reinsurance program will help stabilize early retiree coverage and help ensure that firms continue to provide health coverage to their early retirees. Companies, unions, and state and local governments are eligible for these benefits.

New consumer protections in the insurance market beginning on or after September 23, 2010.

• Insurance companies will no longer be able to place lifetime limits on the coverage they provide, ensuring that the 910,000 New Hampshire residents with private insurance coverage never have to worry about their coverage running out and facing catastrophic out-of-pocket costs.
• Insurance companies will be banned from dropping people from coverage when they get sick, protecting the 64,000 individuals who purchase insurance in the individual market from dishonest insurance practices.
• Insurance companies will not be able to exclude children from coverage because of a pre-existing condition, giving parents across New Hampshire peace of mind.
• Insurance plans’ use of annual limits will be tightly regulated to ensure access to needed care.  This will protect the 846,000 residents of New Hampshire with health insurance from their employer, along with anyone who signs up with a new insurance plan in New Hampshire.
• Health insurers offering new plans will have to develop an appeals process to make it easy for enrollees to dispute the denial of a medical claim.
• Patients’ choice of doctors will be protected by allowing plan members in new plans to pick any participating primary care provider, prohibiting insurers from requiring prior authorization before a woman sees an ob-gyn, and ensuring access to emergency care.

Extending coverage to young adults. Beginning on or after September 23, 2010, plans and issuers that offer coverage to children on their parents’ policy must allow children to remain on their parents’ policy until they turn 26, unless the adult child has another offer of job-based coverage in some cases. This provision will bring relief to roughly 3,480 individuals in New Hampshire who could now have quality affordable coverage through their parents.(4)  Some employers and the vast majority of insurers have agreed to cover adult children immediately.

Affordable insurance for uninsured with pre-existing conditions. $19.8 million federal dollars are available to New Hampshire starting July 1 to provide coverage for uninsured residents with pre-existing medical conditions through a new transitional high-risk pool program, funded entirely by the Federal government. The program is a bridge to 2014 when Americans will have access to affordable coverage options in the new health insurance exchanges and insurance companies will be prohibited from denying coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions. If states choose not to run the program, the Federal government will administer the program for those residents.

Strengthening community health centers. Beginning October 1, 2010, increased funding for Community Health Centers will help nearly double the number of patients seen by the centers over the next five years. The funding could not only help the 57 Community Health Centers in New Hampshire but also support the construction of new centers.

More doctors where people need them. Beginning October 1, 2010, the Act will provide funding for the National Health Service Corps ($1.5 billion over five years) for scholarships and loan repayments for doctors, nurses and other health care providers who work in areas with a shortage of health professionals. This will help the 5% of New Hampshire’s population who live in an underserved area.

New Medicaid options for states. For the first time, New Hampshire has the option of Federal Medicaid funding for coverage for all low-income populations, irrespective of age, disability, or family status. 

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1

Http://www.irs.gov/pub/newsroom/count_per_state_for_special_post_card_notice.pdf

2 Office of the Actuary. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Number represents only non-LIS seniors.

3 Kaiser Family Foundation. 2009 Employer Health Benefits Survey.

4 U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey. Annual Social and Economic Supplements, March 2009; and 45 CFR Parts 144, 146, and 147. http://www.hhs.gov/ociio/regulations/pra_omnibus_final.pdf

NHPA Treasurer's Report

NHPA Treasurer’s Report: April 30, 2010

by: Dr. Tom Burns, NHPA Treasurer

I will shortly begin my fourth term as your Treasurer. It pleases me to report to you that your Association’s finances are in the best shape they have been during my tenure and there is good reason to be optimistic for the future.

The total figure income/expenditure figure for the fiscal 2007/2008 budget was $158,490.00. That same figure for the 2010/2011 budget is $106,330.00, a decrease in four years of almost 30%. This decrease in total expenditures is largely accounted for by more modest and realistic budgeting for the CE program and the Annual Meeting, the elimination of any funding for administrative assistants, a cut in monthly rent/electricity bills due to last year’s move, and very careful attention to day to day expenses. We continue to appreciate and benefit by the careful administration of our funds by the Executive Director who somehow continues to do more with less.

This drastic decrease in total expenditures proved absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, we had become dependent upon our reserves to fully meet our current obligations. About two years ago I calculated that should we stay on the same trajectory, we would now be approaching the exhaustion of our reserves now and soon be broke.

Last year your officers and Board concluded that we had done everything that could be prudently done to trim expenditures without eliminating valuable projects and services.  We decided, for the first time in many years, to propose an increase in dues to help assure solvency. Even after that dues increase (our dues were only the fourth most expensive of the six New England states), the membership responded positively.  We were actually able to exceed our dues income estimates for the first time in my tenure. Thank you.  We plan to initiate more modest if more frequent dues adjustments in the future to avoid this situation from reoccurring. There is no such adjustment in the proposed budget for 2010/2011.

For the most part, the current budget does not reflect any dramatic changes. We continue to seek further economies. We continue to be conservative in estimates and forecasts so as to avoid surprises and emergencies. There is one notable increase in expenses; a modest raise for the Executive Director. This is the first salary adjustment for the Executive director since she took office four years ago. After a human resources review process and extensive considerations, The Board decided that besides being well deserved and way overdue, the continued employment of this Executive Director is the best investment we can possibly make. We are sure the membership will agree.

This fiscal year will see the initiation of the 501 (c)(3) status for our Foundation. This should enable us to tap new funding sources for our educational efforts and finance our missions more fiscally efficiently. This is new ground for us so it is hard to say when we might actually realize concrete benefits but the process is well underway and should prove quite significant in the future. 

NHPA Announces Changes to Membership Categories

At the Meeting of the Membership at the Annual Convention April 30, 2010, NHPA members voted to approve bylaw changes to create new membership levels and make needed changes to some existing membership categories.  Below is a description of the revised NHPA membership categories.

By-Law Changes Descriptions

1.  Emeritus Member (Change) – Changed language to allow the NHPA Board, when determining dues rates, to take into consideration “special demographics” of its older members (for example, setting special dues rates for members who are partially-retired, instead of requiring they be fully retired before receiving Emeritus status).

2.  Early Career Member (Addition) – In recognition that early career professionals have different needs and often limited finances, particularly in the beginning; the NHPA Board has created a new category of “Early Career Member”.  These individuals will be within seven (7) years of receiving their doctoral degree.  The NHPA Board, when determining dues rates may set special membership rates for members who meet the qualifications of Early Career Member.

NHPA in creating this category used guidelines similar to the APA Early Career Psychologist definition.  The Early Career Member will have the same rights and privileges as Full Members.  In other words, they may vote in elections, be appointed to and chair committees and, if elected/appointed, are eligible to serve on the NHPA Board of Directors.   

3.  Affiliate Member (Addition) - Affiliate Members will be individuals who have a strong connection to the mental health community, but do not qualify for another membership category.  These individuals are believed to be professionals who can advance the role of psychology in the State (for example, an attorney who does a considerable amount of work with psychologists.)  These individuals must have their membership application approved by the NHPA Board of Directors.  They are eligible to participate in committees, however, they cannot chair committees; vote on committee business; vote in the Association’s elections, on its ballots, or at its Annual Meetings; or serve on the Board of Directors.

4.  Institutional Member (Addition) - NHPA has set as one of its core missions the promotion of psychology as a science with broad application and appeal in all aspects of society.  In that vein, the Association is compelled to look beyond the individual clinical and academic membership composition of NHPA, and begin to involve larger groups of these people who, as a whole will benefit from our activities, and from whose expertise NHPA will be enriched as well.

The Institutional membership is a vehicle by which we can enlarge the umbrella of our organization and gain diversity, added dimensions to our expertise and a broadened resource pool from which to draw for education, training and leadership.  Colleges, universities, and human service organizations groups are encouraged to engage in the activities of NHPA and benefit from our expertise and resources while at the same time have the opportunity to offer their experience, knowledge, research and intellectual resources with NHPA.

The NHPA Board of Directors hopes to pilot this type of membership in the 2010-2011 membership year. Applications for Institutional Members must be approved by the NHPA Board of Directors.  Individuals under the Institutional Member category may participate in the Association activities based on their eligibility level if they were an individual member.