Proposed state legislation could end public school vaccination requirements, prohibit public water systems from fluoridating water and add work requirements for Medicaid recipients.
Some health policy leaders are concerned about such measures particularly as they look forward to a tight budget year in which spending cutbacks are possible.
“Policymakers in our state are going to have to make some incredibly difficult financial and budgetary decisions that are going to impact the health and wellness of people all across our state,” Jake Berry, vice president of New Futures, said in an interview Friday.
New Futures is a Concord-based nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to find solutions to the state’s health challenges.
One proposal would repeal the law that created the N.H. Vaccine Association, which works with the state to purchase vaccines at low rates. Rep. Michael Granger, R-Milton Mills, the prime sponsor, didn’t immediately return a call for comment about the proposal on Monday.
“This is part of an overall sort of attack on our public health system and the undermining of our vaccines that keep so many people safe and healthy,” Berry said.
Rep. Kelley Potenza, R-Strafford, has a proposal that she said would end the requirement that children receive certain vaccinations before they enter public schools such as for diphtheria, mumps, pertussis, polio, rubella, rubeola and tetanus.
Potenza contends vaccines do not prevent the transmission of disease and should not be required. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other experts say they are essential for personal and public health.
Rep. Peter Schmidt, D-Dover, has proposed a bill that would prohibit public water systems from adding fluoride. He notes a federal judge in California has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to begin rulemaking procedures to address concerns about dangers posed by the substance.
The CDC says fluoridation benefits communities by preventing cavities and lists it, along with vaccination, as one of the great public health achievements of the 20th century.
A 2024 fact sheet from the N.H. Department of Environmental Services that lists public water systems that have fluoridated water did not include any Monadnock Region communities.
Rep. Daniel Popovici-Muller, R-Windham, has a proposal that would add work requirements to Medicaid beneficiaries.
When he was reached, he didn’t have the exact wording of the proposal, and the legislative language hasn’t appeared yet on the state’s website.
On July 29, 2019, a federal judge halted implementation of a New Hampshire work requirement for Medicaid enrollees. The state had already delayed implementation of the policy after learning it could lead to nearly 17,000 people losing their health coverage.
“I think we have to look at all possibilities to keep costs under control,” Popovici-Muller said in an interview Monday. “It’s a matter of being fiscally responsible and providing help to everybody who needs it, but we also expect some people who are capable to help themselves as much as they can before depending on government support.”
Berry said adding the new eligibility requirement could be harmful.
“We’d be tremendously fearful about what that would mean for people trying to access the program and its benefits,” he said, noting that some people might not be able to find a job sufficient to meet a new requirement.
“Also, some people might have substance use disorder or mental health issues that would make it difficult for them to meet this requirement.”
The N.H. Legislature will reconvene early next month.