New Hampshire Governor Signs Bill To Reduce Insurance Premiums For Small Businesses

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 10 Jul 2005 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

New Hampshire Governor John Lynch (D) on Tuesday signed into law a bill... (SB 125) that will reduce insurance rates for small business owners in certain regions of the state, the Foster's Daily Democrat reports. According to Lynch, the bill, sponsored by state Sens. Maggie Hassan (D) and Ted Gatsas (R), revises a law (SB 110) enacted last year by eliminating geography and health status as rating factors. The new law includes age as a rating factor, but "restor[es] the age factor to the same ratio it was before SB 110" was enacted. The new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2006, also limits premium increases at 20%. In addition, the new law establishes a reinsurance pool for high-risk policies. Lynch said, "For the past two years, New Hampshire's small businesses have struggled under the effects of a law known as SB 110. Although passed with good intentions, this law sent health insurance premiums for our small businesses skyrocketing" (Manning, Foster's Daily Democrat, 7/6).

"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.