By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Hours after the House voted to send Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s priority bill to interim study, the Senate salvaged the bill to fight for another round.
It is about private health insurance paying for mental health care for about 160,000 youths in the state.
A child on Medicaid is covered but a child on private insurance is not.
State Sen. Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead, asked the Senate to include Senate Bill 498 into House Bill 1323, which passed on a voice vote Thursday night.
The bill that is being amended is related to parental alienation which passed the House.
The move sends both bills back over to the House where they must decide whether to concur, non concur, or request a committee of conference.
Birdsell released the following statement: “I’m deeply disappointed that SB 498 failed, but unfortunately, I cannot say I’m surprised. Let me be clear: I will stand up to Anthem — or any powerful insurance company — every single time when the mental health and wellbeing of our children are at stake.
“The Senate will continue working with families, providers, and stakeholders to find ways to expand mental health services and improve access to care for our most vulnerable.”
While she was not available Friday for comment, Ayotte told reporters last week she was not giving up on the matter and was working behind the scenes to see it make it to her desk for a signature.
HB 1323 had been on the Senate consent calendar but was pulled off. Thursday was the last day for the Senate to act on the measure and it came well into the night.
Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, moved House Bill 1323 ought to pass as amended and said it defines parental alienation and requires courts to look at such allegations.
Sen. Pat Long, D-Manchester, said the bill is opposed by judges, child advocates and others and he opposed it.
“Who benefits? I believe it is the parents and certainly not the children in the middle,” Long said.
Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, asked if this will allow parents to bring further claims. Long said he thinks that would be inevitable.
Sen. Daryl Abbas, R-Salem, said what the bill allows for is an expedited hearing on alienation. He is an attorney who has represented such victims.
“In litigation a lot of tactics are abused,” he said. In this case, the prevailing party would pay costs if the bill is passed.
Sen. Sue Prentiss, D-Lebanon, offered an amendment adding Senate Bill 480, which had already passed the Senate. What it does is allows for up to eight visits for physical and occupational therapy, she said.
Then, Birdsell offered the amendment Ayotte wanted: children’s mental health coverage noting SB 498 passed the body unanimously.
She said it is the wrap-around program which the House sent to interim study that morning. The floor amendment was unanimously adopted by the Senate.
On May 6, Ayotte expressed outrage that a House committee recommended to send the bill to interim study a bill that she said would allow insurance companies to shirk their responsibility to cover children’s mental health needs.
The focus of her press conference was Senate Bill 498 which impacts 160,000 children, the majority of which are covered by Anthem insurance plans. It was passed on a bipartisan overwhelming vote out of the Senate.
She vowed the fight was not over and called the 14-4 vote out of House Commerce “appalling.”
“It’s unbelievable to me that they think it is more important to support the insurance companies than it is to support the children of this state when it comes to a critical issue like mental health. So To me this is an issue that we need to continue to fight on, and I plan to as governor. Because I was outraged when I heard about the committee vote today.
“I think this is really wrong because Anthem and other insurance companies should be covering the support and treatment of mental health issues. I was incredibly flabbergasted and disappointed by the House vote on this and I believe that we should be covering mental health for children. And this is not the first time this issue has been raised. This issue has been pending around here for several years, what I am told. Insurers like Anthem keep claiming that they are negotiating in good faith but clearly they are stalling because they don’t want to cover mental health coverage for children. It’s wrong. So we are going to continue to push this even though the committee voted it down. We are not going to let up on this. We need to do the right thing and the fact that insurance companies continue to delay this, I don’t know why any House member would listen to what they say about this given that this is not the first time they have heard this issue and no result has happened. And children are the ones that are being harmed here.”