A cluster of bills covering health insurance practices, medical billing transparency, and education property taxes shifted to interim study Tuesday, reviving several measures that had previously been marked dead. No bills were signed into law and no floor votes were recorded.
On the Move
Eight bills moved to interim study, a procedural status that keeps legislation alive for further committee review without advancing it toward a floor vote.
Healthcare billing and insurance coverage dominated the day’s activity:
- HB 648 — Would require insurers to cover continuous glucose monitors for diabetic patients, who can face costs of several hundred dollars per month without coverage.
- HB 1638 — Would let patients and physicians bypass step-therapy (“fail first”) insurance requirements when a doctor determines another treatment is medically necessary.
- HB 1231 — Would require healthcare providers to disclose to patients exactly what services were billed to their insurance carrier.
- HB 706 — Would prohibit insurers from auditing providers after services are delivered but before payment is made, a practice that can delay reimbursement to doctors and hospitals.
- HB 1347 — Addresses how insurance networks handle specialist referrals; already active, now sent to committee for further analysis.
Education property taxes also drew attention:
- HB 1787 and HB 1800 both address the statewide education property tax (SWEPT), NH’s primary mechanism for funding public schools. Both were previously marked dead and are now active under interim study. The two bills approach modifications to the system from sponsors on opposite sides of the aisle — HB 1787 sponsored by Rep. Richard Ames (D) and HB 1800 by Rep. Walter Spilsbury (R).
Police accountability:
- HB 1587 — Would make police body camera footage subject to NH’s right-to-know law, allowing public records requests for footage. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Matt Sabourin (R), was previously dead and is now in committee.
What Interim Study Means
Interim study is not passage. Bills in interim study are reviewed by a committee over the off-session period. They can be recommended for future legislation, redrafted, or effectively shelved. Bills previously marked dead that return to interim study have a second opportunity to move forward in a future session.
To see how your representatives voted or to contact them about any of these bills, visit nhpolitics.org/find-your-rep.