Posted 04/24/2025: HealthTrust Testimony to the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee

Yesterday, HealthTrust's Executive Director Scott DeRoche testified before the House Commerce Committee against SB 297. HealthTrust’s written testimony on SB 297 may be found at the following link.

Posted 04/23/2025: Recording of 4/3/2025 Virtual Town Hall on SB297 and The Impact on You, Our Member Groups

Today, HealthTrust hosted an important Virtual Town Hall regarding Senate Bill 297 and its impact on HealthTrust coverages and you, HealthTrust's Member Groups. It was presented by Scott DeRoche, Executive Director, and moderated by David Salois, Benefit Services Manager. The webinar explored the potential changes to risk pool management and how they may affect New Hampshire’s public sector employers and employees. A recording of this webinar is available here, and the slides are available for download here.

Posted 03/27/2025: Statement from HealthTrust’s Executive Director: Why SB297 Precludes HealthTrust from Offering Coverage

Today, HealthTrust’s Executive Director issued the statement: Why SB297 Precludes HealthTrust from Offering Coverage. Please find a copy of that statement here.

Posted 03/21/2025: Important Statement from the HealthTrust Board of Directors Regarding Financials and SB297

Today, the HealthTrust Board of Directors issued an important statement regarding financials and SB297. Please find a copy of that statement here.

Posted 03/13/2025: HealthTrust Member Groups Face Significant Impacts from SB 297

Yesterday, Senate Bill 297 (as amended) was passed through the Senate Finance Committee. This bill is expected to appear before the Senate as part of the consent calendar no later than next week.

HealthTrust testified in opposition of this late bill last Tuesday. You may find a copy of our testimony here.

This bill will have significant impacts on you, our Member Groups. We have provided a list of the material impacts as we understand them on the SB 297 Fact Sheet.

In short, these regulatory changes by the State of New Hampshire will negatively impact your city, town, county, or school district by:

• Shifting the ultimate financial liability for losses to you, the Member Groups of HealthTrust;
• Requiring Member Groups to establish reserve accounts used to pay for assessments and replenishments, and;
• Requiring Member Groups to accept changes for a new process and structure that are not based on commonly accepted, actuarially sound standards (such as those used by the NH Department of Insurance).

If these changes present problems for your community, we encourage you to contact your Senators, Representatives, and other stakeholders.

Posted 03/05/2025: HealthTrust Responds to SB 297 Financial Position Testimony

HealthTrust Responds to SB 297 Financial Position Testimony

In yesterday’s hearing on SB 297, and subsequently quoted in media articles, certain testimony characterized HealthTrust’s financial position as being “in danger of insolvency.” This testimony requires critical clarification. Please see the statement below from HealthTrust Executive Director Scott DeRoche.

Additionally, a full copy of HealthTrust’s written testimony on SB 297 may be found at the following link. Copies of HealthTrust’s FY2024 Audited Financial Statements with Required Supplementary Information may be found here.

Statement from Executive Director Scott DeRoche:

“Several inaccurate and misleading statements and materials were shared at the March 4, 2025 hearing before the Senate Finance and Election Law & Municipal Affairs Committees on SB 297. This bill impacts New Hampshire’s nonprofit providers of health, workers compensation, and property liability coverage to municipalities, schools, counties, and public sector employees.

First, the claim that HealthTrust is in danger of insolvency within the next few months is false. Broad brush comments such as these are damaging and can create fear amongst public sector workers, who play critical roles in serving New Hampshire communities.

HealthTrust is not in any imminent danger of insolvency. The statement made by the actuary hired by the Secretary of State’s office that HealthTrust is losing $2.5 million a month is incredibly misleading. Over the past fiscal year (FY2024), HealthTrust’s net position increased by $10 million. During the first six months of the current fiscal year (FY2025, through December 2024), HealthTrust’s net position increased by an additional $2 million.

The second claim, that HealthTrust has lost money in five of the past seven years, is also incorrect and highly misleading. It intentionally ignores the two years during COVID where HealthTrust’s revenue far exceeded claims and $57 million was returned to New Hampshire’s public sector employers.

Risk pools are not designed to make money - they are designed to manage pooled risk effectively and to provide the protection that New Hampshire’s public sector entities need. Over the last seven years (FY2018-FY2024), HealthTrust’s net position has increased during four years and decreased during three years. The last few years have been a period of extreme and hard-to-predict volatility in the health insurance market and reserves were used to cover losses.

HealthTrust is currently in the midst of a multi-year, actuarially-modeled, and Board-approved plan to replenish those reserves – a process that needs to be staged over three years so public sector employers can respond in a responsible way. This is a significant challenge, but one that is being addressed by HealthTrust through the multi-year rebuild and through other measures put into place to help reduce volatility. The Secretary, by his actuary’s own analysis, shows that the existing rebuild plan will be sufficient before the proposed effective date of the law’s contingency replenishment requirements. See page 7 of the materials presented by the Secretary of State.

Last, the assertion made by Mr. Li at the hearing that HealthTrust is intentionally undercharging public sector employers is also false. Organizations such as HealthTrust exist to serve the public sector. We are nonprofit entities. Developing rates for future healthcare costs and projecting these out 18 months or more so municipalities, schools, and other public sector entities can go through their budgeting processes is complex.

Rushing through a bill that tries to claw back funds from public sector employers and taxpayers to address potential shortfalls by creating an urgency that is not there is unwise at best and harmful at worst to the thousands of people who receive health benefits through these programs.

HealthTrust operates in a very transparent fashion and we are happy to work with the office of the Secretary of State and the bill sponsors to address this in a thoughtful and careful way. We urge members of the Senate to reach out to their municipal, school, and county leaders to get a better understanding of those this may impact to determine what might be most appropriate for legislative action in the future.”

Posted 02/28/2025: HealthTrust Statement Regarding Senate Bill 297

HealthTrust received the text of Senate Bill (SB) 297 late Tuesday, February 25, 2025. This bill, if passed, would shift the risk of losses from NH RSA 5-B pooled risk management programs, such as HealthTrust, to the towns, cities, school districts, counties, and other public sector organizations we serve.

Currently, HealthTrust relies upon its actuaries to determine an adequate level of contributions to cover expected claims during the future renewal period. HealthTrust actuaries also recommend a Capital Adequacy Reserve range which is used to protect against claims exceeding expectations. If the reserve is utilized, HealthTrust rebuilds the reserve funds through a Capital Risk Charge built into the upcoming rating cycles.

The reserve range for health programs in SB 297 is too narrow and too low to sufficiently protect against potential adverse claims experience, which has been particularly volatile over recent years. If this bill were to pass, and the low level of reserves proved to be insufficient, the shortfall would be borne by the Member Groups in the form of an assessment that would be required to be paid by the Group within 30 days at any time during the plan year. Such assessments may frequently occur due to the requirement that health risk management programs adhere to the narrow and low level of reserves. In other words, the bill would require HealthTrust to be undercapitalized, relying instead on Member Group assessments to prevent financial impairment.

HealthTrust opposes this bill and will present testimony at the hearing on Tuesday, March 4, at 1 p.m. in State House Room 103.