Your Help is Needed! Mandated Coverage Bill Now in NH House

Hi All,

The NH House Commerce Committee is holding a public hearing on SB 312 (relative to requiring health insurers to cover treatment for morbid obesity) on Tuesday, April 8th at 11am in Room 302 of the Legislative Office Building in Concord.

SB 312 would mandate insurers to cover bariatric surgery in cases where an obese individual had unsuccessfully taken medically advised measures to reduce their weight. 

SB 312 passed the NH Senate in a 21-3 vote. 

The House Commerce Committee sent a similar bill (requiring bariatric surgery for those who are morbidly obese with type II diabetes) to study.  The  House Commerce Committee members  need  hear from you to understand that bariatric surgery is a successful procedure for those affected and the reassurance that their voting constituents will understand that this is an insurance mandate that lowers medical costs in the long run.

Listed below are the members of the committee.  If you can't make it to the public hearing, please consider writing a letter of support for the bill to anyone or everyone on the list below.  Your voice means the most.  Thanks a lot.

Best regards,
Grant Sanborn
Portsmouth Regional Hospital
www.portsmouthhospital.com 
Parkland Medical Center
www.parklandmedicalcenter.com 

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Reardon, Tara – Chairperson

124 East Side Drive  

Concord NH 03301 -5464

DeStefano, Stephen – Vice Chair
7 Sharon Drive
Bow NH 03304-4325

Kopka, Angeline
63 Buckmeadow Rd
Nashua NH 03062-1726

McEachern, Paul
282 Corporate Drive  
Portsmouth NH 03801-2849

Butler, Edward
Notchland Inn Rte 302  
Harts Location NH 03812

Hammond, Jill
PO Box 332
Peterborough NH 03458-0332

Houde, Matthew
P.O. Box 66
Meriden NH 03770-0066

Matheson, Robert
PO Box 252
North Woodstock NH 03262-0252

Nord, Susi
32 Murray Hill Rd
Candia NH 03034-2616

Spratt, Stephen
PO Box 168
Greenville NH 03048-0168

Warren, Nancy
101 Lowell St
Rochester NH 03867 -5005

Winters, Joel
PO Box 135
Nashua NH 03061-0135

Hunt, John
165 Sunridge Road
Rindge NH 03461-5478

Belanger, Ronald
PO Box 415
Salem NH 03079-0415

Flanders, Donald
19 Kensington Dr
Laconia NH 03246-2910

Clark, Charles
336 Intervale Rd Unit B2  
Gilford NH 03249-7436

Quandt, Matthew
45 Franklin St.
Exeter, NH 03833-2817 

Quandt, Marshall
45 Franklin Street
Exeter NH 03833-2817

Martin, James
PO Box 537
Sanbornville NH 03872-0537

Pelkey, Stephen
PO Box 202
Jaffrey NH 03452-0202

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I will write a letter and send it to all of them.  Thanks for providing the info!

Thanks for passing this on.  We'll also write to them.  Are there "talking points" that you would suggest that we use in the letter?  Thanks - BEcky

Hi,

That's really great that both of you will write a letter in support of the Senate bill!  Thanks a lot.  I've pasted below some of the items you might want to include in your letter.  If you feel comfortable with it, I would be grateful to receive a copy of your letter as well.  My address is Grant Sanborn, Portsmouth Regional Hospital, 333 Borthwick Ave., Portsmouth, NH 03801.

Thanks again and I'll keep everyone posted on the bill's progress.

Best regards, Grant Sanborn Portsmouth Regional Hospital wwww.portsmouthhospital.com  Parkland Medical Center www.parklandmedicalcenter.com

*** Issues to include in your letter (depending on your comfort level in including personal information – be mindful that newspapers may want to publish your letter; or the elected officials you write to may share it in public as well): 

Let them know how important it is that insurance companies continue to cover this medically necessary procedure.

 

Describe medical issues and their costs:

• Conditions that you deal with (dealt with) on a daily basis – diabetes, cardiac conditions, sleep apnea, constant sweating, cancer risk (feel free to discuss family history)
• Monthly costs for medications to manage conditions associated with obesity – both your co-pays and the actual costs charged by the pharmacy, future surgeries that might be required to address cardiac conditions, wound care treatments, etc.

 

Describe your past efforts to lose weight

• How long have you dieted, what diets have you tried, how much weight did you lose, and how long were you able to keep it off?

 

Describe quality of life issues if you have not had the surgery (or before surgery if you have):

• What are some “normal” things that you are/were not able to do – play with your children, go to the movies, sit on an airplane, get a full night’s sleep, conceive
• What are some things that you cannot/could not do that could harm you or your family – unable to chase after small children who might get into dangerous situations, unable to get up by yourself if you were to fall down, unable to take care of an elderly family member who lives with you, unable to carry a pregnancy full term without risk to you or the baby

 

Describe how the surgery changed your life if you have had it:

 

Let them know that you understand that this surgery is a huge commitment.  That you understand that it is not cosmetic surgery.  That you understand that as with any major surgery on a morbidly obese person, there are risks associated with the procedure.  That you realize that you will experience dramatic lifestyle changes.

 

Emphasize that the surgery is cost effective over time.  That future medical costs associated with various co-morbidities (illnesses caused by morbid obesity) can be extremely high. 

 

Clarify that the NIH (National Institute of Health) has clearly stated that this is the ONLY effective measure of long-term weight loss for the morbidly obese.  

 

Let them know that you do not accept the fact that the surgery is not covered in New Hampshire and that you know that this is not the case in nearby Massachusetts and Maine.  Ask why they are choosing to discriminate against the morbidly obese in New Hampshire.

 

Help them understand that this surgery CURES morbid obesity and may help cure or alleviate associated co-morbidities.  That it would be intolerable for companies to stop covering surgeries for cardiac surgery or cancer, and you consider it unacceptable to stop covering this procedure which has clearly been proven to be successful.

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Grant, I'm so sorry.  My life literally got away from me last week, and I never wrote the letter that I promised to send.  I feel terrible about it.  Do you know what happened on the bill on Tuesday?

Hi Everyone,

Actually, the hearing didn't end up taking place because another bill being discussed went long.  So now the public hearing is going to be this coming Tuesday, April 15th at 11 am in the same location.

So it's not too late to send a letter in...also, I'm going to see if I can track down email addresses for these representatives, as that might be easier for someone to send a note in support of the Senate Bill.

Thanks and have a nice weekend,
Grant Sanborn
Portsmouth Regional Hospital 
www.portsmouthhospital.com 
Parkland Medical Center
www.parklandmedicalcenter.com