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Recap of 2021 NH Legislative Session
The legislative session in New Hampshire concluded with Governor Sununu signing the budget a day after it had been passed by the House and Senate. The budget contained significant funding for mental health services, furthering the steps taken in 2019 to address the 10-Year Mental Health Plan. These included:
- expansion of mobile crisis response teams statewide;
- additional community/residence/transitional housing beds in each Community Mental Health Center region;
- additional residential programs for adolescents;
- additional supported housing for adults;
- Critical Time Intervention (CTI) services to provide care management to people 90 days after discharge to reduce risk of re-hospitalization;
- funding for a 25-bed forensic hospital.
Although the session is over, many bills that have passed are in the process of being enrolled and it will likely be weeks before some make their way to the Governor’s desk for signature or veto. NAMI New Hampshire will continue tracking our priority bills. Below you can find copies of NAMI NH written testimony on bills during this session and see status of priority bills.
Recent Testimony:
October 27, 2021
October 14, 2021
September 22, 2021
June 7, 2021
May 5, 2021
April 14, 2021
- HB 220 – Establishing medical freedom in immunizations.
- HB 540 – Relative to supported decision-making as an alternative to guardianship.
March 29, 2021
March 16, 2021
February 25, 2021
February 23, 2021
- HB 578 – Relative to standards for mental health courts.
- NAMI NH Testimony on Concord Hospital – LRGH Merger
February 17, 2021
February 16, 2021
February 8, 2021
January 29, 2021
- HB 103 – Establishing a dental benefit under the state Medicaid program.
- HB 602 – Relative to reimbursements for telemedicine.
January 28, 2021
- HB 254 – Relative to the placement of minors in secure settings.
- HB 427 – Prohibiting corporal punishment of children in state agency programs.
- SB 59 – Relative to the collaborative care model service delivery method.
January 27, 2021
October 26, 2020
June 24, 2020
February 11, 2020
February 5, 2020
January 29, 2020
- HB 1163 – Requiring schools to update documents and software to include the option of identifying a student as non-binary.
- SB 412 – Establishing a commission to study issues relating to corrections officers.
- SB 634 – Relative to establishing a peer support program in the department of health and human services.
January 28, 2020
January 23, 2020
- HB 1174 – Requiring screening for all law enforcement officers for psychological stability and substance use disorders prior to assuming their duties as certified officers.
- HB 1521 – Adding a peer support specialist to the board of mental health practice.
January 22, 2020
January 21, 2020
- HB 1122 – Relative to death benefits of first responders who die from suicide.
- HB 1346 – Requiring the insurance department to make a report regarding the impact of insurance coverage for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders.
January 16, 2020
January 13, 2020
May 8, 2019
April 30, 2019
- HB 514 – Imposing a waiting period between the purchase and delivery of a firearm.
- SB 131 – Reestablishing a commission to study grandfamilies in New Hampshire.
April 23, 2019
- HB 652 – Relative to suicide prevention.
- SB 224 – Relative to insurance coverage for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders.
April 3, 2019
- SB 51 – Establishing a commission to study expanding mental health courts statewide.
- SB 282 -Relative to suicide prevention education in schools.
- SB 292 – Relative to implementation of the new mental health 10-year plan.
March 26, 2019
March 19, 2019
March 5, 2019
- HB 687 – Relative to extreme risk protection orders.
- SB 177 – Relative to the use of physical restraints on persons who are involuntarily committed.
February 13, 2019
February 12, 2019
- HB 726 – Relative to the secure psychiatric unit and making an appropriation therefor.
- SB 14 – Relative to child welfare.
January 30, 2019
- HB 610 –Relative to treatment alternatives to opioids.
- HB 652 – Relative to suicide prevention.
- HB 677 – Relative to discipline of students, addressing students’ behavioral needs, and making an appropriation therefor.
January 29, 2019
- SB 59 – Adding post traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder to the definition of “injury” for purposes of workers’ compensation and reestablishing the commission to study the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder in first responders.
- SB 224 – Relative to insurance coverage for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders.
January 24, 2019
January 22, 2019
- HB 113 – Relative to qualifications for and exceptions from licensure for mental health practice.
- SB 5 – Making an appropriation relative to Medicaid provider rates for mental health and substance misuse.
- SB 11 – Relative to mental health services and making appropriations therefor.
- SB 51 – Establishing a commission to study expanding mental health courts statewide.
January 16, 2019
January 9, 2019
April 10, 2018
- HB 587 – Relative to conversion therapy seeking to change a person’s sexual orientation.
- SB 508 – Establishing a committee to study the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other related disorders among first responders.
April 2, 2018
March 27, 2018
February 20, 2018
February 13, 2018
- HB 1319 – Prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity.
- SB 480 – Limiting the use of electroconvulsive therapy.
January 24, 2018
January 23, 2018
- HB 1560 – Prohibiting Medicaid from paying for sex reassignment drug or hormone therapy or surgery
- SB 553 – Relative to mental health parity for workers’ compensation
January 17, 2018
January 16, 2018
- HB 1565 – Relative to requiring the secure psychiatric unit to be accredited as a psychiatric hospital
- HB 1751 – Relative to insurance coverage for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders
- HB 1811 – Relative to the New Hampshire health protection program
- SB 502 -Relative to transparency and standards for acquisition transactions in health care
View the 2018 State of the State address. You can click here to skip to the section addressing mental health.
NAMI New Hampshire Identifies 2020 Legislative Priorities
In addition to advocating for mental health priorities at the national level, NAMI NH’s 2020 legislative priorities here in the Granite State include:
Pharmaceuticals & Pricing
- Addressing rising prescription prices in NH, to ensure pharmaceutical treatment options are available to all.
Suicide Prevention Measures
- Extreme Risk protective orders (temporary removal of firearms for individuals who are dangerous – especially as a suicide prevention measure).
- Waiting period between the purchase and delivery of a firearm.
Children
- Medicaid to schools.
- Funding relative to multi-tiered systems of support.
- Coverage for children’s early intervention services.
- Provision of special education services for older students.
First Responders
- Death benefits in instances of suicide loss.
- Psychological exams.
- Public review of officer-involved shootings.
Medicaid Block Grant
- Opposing the Medicaid Block Grant proposal in favor of a more effective multi-tiered approach for the statewide mental health system.
Legislative Update - December 2019
NH State Budget Signed into Law
New Hampshire lawmakers and Governor Sununu arrived at a much-anticipated budget compromise right before the October 1, 2019 expiration of the continuing resolution funding state government. The new budget will provide funding and support for many of the priority recommendations in the 10-Year Mental Health Plan to move forward. Although not an all-inclusive list, among those initiatives are:
- A statewide mobile crisis response system for children experiencing a mental health crisis.
- Expansion of an additional mobile crisis response team, or crisis care unit (walk-in clinic for mental health emergencies) in the state.
- Increased Medicaid reimbursement rates to all providers of 3.1% in FY20 and 3.1% in FY21.
- Funding for an additional designated receiving facility (to accept involuntary emergency admissions).
- Funding for NH’s suicide prevention hotline.
- Transfer of the Philbrook Children’s Unit at New Hampshire Hospital to Hampstead Hospital.
- $250,000 in suicide prevention funding in FY20 and again in FY21.
- $8 million to begin building a new hospital/unit for forensic patients.
While some of these initiatives will be felt immediately, others will take months/years to operationalize. However, they represent significant progress at improving the mental health service delivery system.
Thank you to all who attended hearings, wrote letters or emails, called legislators, and otherwise advocated for mental health and suicide prevention in the Granite State. Your voices carried a lot of weight in making mental health a priority this legislative session.
Let’s do the same for the upcoming presidential primary and elevate the importance of improving the mental health service delivery system, suicide prevention, and research nationally by telling your stories and asking candidates key questions about mental health services.
Sample Questions to Ask 2020 Presidential Candidates
#Act4MentalHealth
NAMI NH Position on Secure Psychiatric Unit
NAMI New Hampshire has a long history of opposing the transfer of patients from New Hampshire Hospital to the care of the Department of Corrections (Secure Psychiatric Unit). Specifically, we are opposed to the commingling of individuals with mental illness who are committed under Involuntary Emergency Admission (IEA) with those who are criminally committed. We have provided written and oral testimony at numerous legislative hearings to this effect. NAMI NH continues to advocate for more resources to improve access to appropriate levels of care across the entire mental health system.
To learn more about our policy position on this issue, please see:
2016 Letter Co-authored by NAMI NH, American Civil Liberties Union of NH, Disability Rights Center, and NH Legal Assistance.
Excerpt: "We write to express our opposition to the continued transfer of civilly committed patients from New Hampshire Hospital to the Secure Psychiatric Unit in the New Hampshire State Prison..."
The 10 Year Mental Health Plan
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has released a final version of the new 10-Year Mental Health Plan. Read the plan on the DHHS website.
NAMI NH has provided the following feedback to DHHS on the plan:
General Talking points when contacting Legislators; House or Senate
Use your own words, but share your passion, it is critical that the Representatives hear about Mental Health
- Mental Health is important to me, my family and our state and I am asking you to represent me and support increased funding
- Myself/my family has been affected by mental illness, I support funding for improved services
Specific Talking points
- Support the re-authorization of the NH Health Protection Program; also known as Medicaid Expansion; particularly the opportunity it offers for Substance misuse treatment and mental health treatment. Over 38,000 NH citizens are now insured and receive mental health services.
- The NH Health Protection Program:
- Provides insurance to NH’s working poor who cannot afford it.
- Covers mental health and substance misuse disorders.
- Saves money by lowering uncompensated hospital care.
- Be prepared to wait to testify and leave your printed testimony if time runs out.
- Fund the implementation of the “10 Year Plan”.
- Fund the Mental Health Settlement Agreement.
Tips for Providing Testimony:
- Arrive early to sign in to speak there will be a waiting list.
- Your comments must be brief; 1-2 minutes maximum
- If you prepare a testimony, bring printed copies to share with House members
Heading to the Hearing?
Let us know- Email advocacy@naminh.org
