Health

House moves toward using Medicaid data to enroll families in free and reduced-price lunch program

BY: - March 29, 2023

For families making up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level, New Hampshire public schools offer free or reduced-price lunches, a federal program intended to reduce childhood hunger among low-income residents. But first comes an application.  In order to get the discounted prices for lunches, a parent or guardian must write down the income […]

A syringe and the tops of three vials

Vaccine, public health bills are having a very different year

BY: - March 28, 2023

Last session, lawmakers took up nearly 60 pandemic-related health measures, more than half focused on vaccines; most failed. It’s a vastly different situation this year.  Of four bills focused on vaccines or public health powers that the Bulletin is following, two have stalled. The other two land on opposite sides of the public health debate. […]

Private well users were reimbursed by the state for PFAS remediation. Then they were taxed on it.

BY: - March 28, 2023

Hundreds of private well users have been reimbursed by the state after spending their own dollars to remediate PFAS contamination. But when tax season rolled around this year, they were mailed 1099 forms, telling them the money they received is considered federal taxable income.  The tax forms caused widespread confusion. Laurene Allen, a co-founder of […]

Republicans help deliver Democrats two abortion wins

BY: - March 24, 2023

This story was updated March 24, 2023 at 8:45 a.m. to correct the name of the representative who addressed a proposed constitutional amendment.  The support of several Republican House lawmakers Thursday gave Democrats wins on significant abortion bills. By fairly wide margins, members voted to remove criminal and civil penalties from the state’s 24-week abortion […]

COMMENTARY

Make your town your lifetime home

BY: - March 24, 2023

It’s town meeting season in New Hampshire, a time when Granite Staters are coming together to discuss and vote on issues that matter. It’s also part of our rich history and what makes New Hampshire a special place to live. People here have a history of working together for the common good.  While there will […]

‘We’re teetering on the edge.’ Are Medicaid rates making it harder to age at home?

BY: - March 22, 2023

Instead of living in nursing facilities, nearly 3,800 Granite Staters are in their own homes and communities thanks to the help they receive with basic needs like bathing, transferring from a wheelchair to bed, managing medications, making meals, and getting to medical appointments. Approximately 600 of them risk losing that care in July if the […]

Ticks in New Hampshire

Tick-borne disease babesiosis reaches endemic status in NH

BY: - March 21, 2023

New Hampshire saw a more than 370 percent increase in reported cases of babesiosis, a tick-borne disease, between 2011 and 2019, according to a new federal study released last week. Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the occurrence of babesiosis increased significantly during that time in the Northeast. Specifically, New Hampshire, […]

DHHS wants to use $15 million in federal aid for second psychiatric hospital

BY: - March 20, 2023

The Department of Health of Human Services is seeking to invest $15 million in federal pandemic money in a second behavioral health hospital, this one a 120-bed facility in southern New Hampshire.  Just over a year ago, the department used $15 million in federal money to buy Hampstead Hospital, a behavioral health hospital for children […]

Even with a $3.7 million cut, advocates support ‘healthy aging’ bill

BY: - March 17, 2023

The state Senate on Thursday passed a significantly scaled back version of a bill that would increase funding and assistance for Granite Staters over age 60 and those who have disabilities and are eligible for Medicaid. The amended version of Senate Bill 36 would put just over $1.7 million into developing and coordinating a system […]

A water bubbler

EPA proposes new rule to crack down on PFAS, forever chemicals in our water

BY: - March 14, 2023

This story was first published at N.C. Policy Watch. The EPA on Tuesday announced its proposed maximum contaminant levels – MCLs – for six types of toxic PFAS in drinking water and acknowledged that no amount of these compounds is safe. “EPA anticipates if fully implemented the rule will prevent tens of thousands of serious […]

Mental health advocates to Sununu: We need more beds in communities, not hospitals

BY: - March 14, 2023

Mental health advocates are fighting Gov. Chris Sununu’s two-part proposal to force hospitals to give the state more emergency psychiatric hospital beds and extend the time the state can hold someone in an emergency room for involuntary admission.  Among those pushing back is the New Hampshire Hospital Association, which says hospitals are already short beds […]

A digital illustration, in pencil and watercolor, about the mental health effects on youth who experience gun violence. A repeating pattern made out of handguns close in on a young boy, who is at the center of the drawing. He covers his face with his hand s, an anguished expression visible on his face. A line of thin red circles are layered across the horizontal center, symbolizing cycles of trauma.

Pandemic stress, gangs, and utter fear fueled a rise in teen shootings

BY: - March 13, 2023

Diego never imagined he’d carry a gun. Not as a child, when shots were fired outside his Chicago-area home. Not at age 12, when one of his friends was gunned down. Diego’s mind changed at 14, when he and his friends were getting ready to walk to midnight Mass for the feast of Our Lady […]