New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte has signed a bill that will expand affordable health coverage options for Granite Staters. Starting January 1, 2027, Senate Bill 607 eliminates outdated restrictions and allows individuals and families to purchase lower-cost “short-term” health plans for a term of up to one year and renew the policy for an additional two years.

What are Short-Term Health Plans?

Short-term plans are affordable bridge options for people who are priced out of expensive comprehensive health insurance plans or who want an alternative to traditional health insurance arrangements. They allow people to customize their coverage by selecting deductibles, out-of-pocket levels, and benefit sets that differ from what is required in Affordable Care Act-regulated plans.

Short-term plans can also be utilized alongside cash-based Direct Primary Care (DPC) Arrangements, Health Savings Accounts, and some Health Reimbursement Arrangements to create more affordable, flexible, and consumer-controlled healthcare. States with more relaxed short-term plan limits have been found to have healthier commercial health insurance markets with more insurer options.

Why Was This Bill Necessary?

Since 1995, New Hampshire has restricted the purchase of short-term plans to six months or less and prohibited consumers from renewing or extending the coverage. The healthcare landscape has changed significantly since then, and the state’s rules have not kept up. Those outdated restrictions deprived consumers of badly needed affordable options, especially those priced out of the traditional insurance market or who were locked out of coverage due to the ACA’s limited enrollment periods.

Original reporting: NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) — read the source article.