The NAIFA-New Hampshire Government Relations Committee partners with J. Grimbilas Strategic Solutions, LLC. to lobby on the issues important to our industry, our products and services, and our clients. J. Grimbilas Strategic Solutions, LLC. has been front line advocates to advance NAIFA-New Hampshire's legislative and regulatory priorities for many years. They've provided this week's update on recent committee meetings, bills they are following, and legislative issues they've identified as being of interest to NAIFA.
House Commerce will hold a work session on HB 255 next Tuesday, then the entire Committee will meet on October 17 to vote whether or not to recommend similar bills for the 2025 session. At a work session earlier this month, there was a statement by a Committee member that HB 1507, or something similar, would likely be re-introduced in 2025. At a work session earlier this week on SB 353, the Insurance Department agreed to determine if there may be an issue with how some health insurance carriers are billing for services associated with autism. They are expected to report back as this may end up solving the issue which SB 353 was introduced to address.
As a reminder, NAIFA participated in a coalition to oppose HB 1663 when it was introduced earlier this year. We will plan to monitor the work session on October 9. Generally, a number of industries were concerned about the impacts the bill would have on information sharing, etc. When we looked at the definition of “health information”, it includes information provided as part of obtaining life insurance (see below):
IV. "Health information" means any information, whether oral or recorded in any form or medium, that:
(a) Is created or received by a health care provider, health plan, public health authority, employer, life insurer, school or university, or health care clearinghouse; and
(b) Relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual, the provision of health care to an individual, or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual.
Finally, in today's (9/27/2024) Concord Monitor, an article described New Hampshire's Governor's Race as the closest in the country, highlighting how races outside of New Hampshire could end up impacting the Gubernatorial race in the Granite State.
Updated watch on the upcoming Legislative Calendar:
Tuesday, October 1, 2024: 2:30pm - House Commerce and Consumer Affairs subcommittee work session on HB 225 - Relative to Prohibiting The Use Of Currency That Could Be Detrimental to Privacy Rights in LOB 302-304
Wednesday, October 9, 2024: 9:30am - House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs full committee work session on HB 1663 - Relative to The Confidentiality Of Medical Records and Patient Information in LOB 205-207
1:00pm - House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs executive session on HB 1663 - Relative to The Confidentiality Of Medical Records and Patient Information in LOB 205-207
Thursday, October 17, 2024: 10:00am - House Commerce and Consumer Affairs executive session on HB 225 - Relative to Prohibiting The Use Of Currency That Could Be Detrimental to Privacy Rights; HB 1507 - Relative to Innovative Financial Services; SB 353 - Relative to Insurance Coverage For Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down Syndrome in LOB 302-304