SB498

This is an important bill to assure that private insurance carriers no longer shirk their responsibility to cover vital mental health services of their enrollees that currently are being paid by taxpayers.

I support this bill and metal healthcare for children funded by state and insurance company dollars.

I am writing in strong support of SB 498. As a former FAST Forward wraparound family and family peer support provider, I know firsthand how life-changing wraparound services can be. Wraparound saved my family’s life. It helped us find support, build community, and learn skills together in a way that truly worked for our family. It was not one-size-fits-all. It was built around what we needed, what worked for us, and what we chose. That kind of support gave me independence for the first time in my life. I have also seen how much harder it can be for families with private insurance to access this same care. They are often forced to jump through extra hoops just to try to get help, and sometimes they still cannot access it. That delay can make everything worse for families who are already struggling. When a family qualifies for wraparound services, it means their needs are complex and they need real support. No family should be shut out from that care because they have private insurance. My family knows what this support can make possible. Other families deserve that same chance. Please support SB 498.

I support this bill as should everyone who cares about our youth and our future. It pays for itself in many ways.

I support the wrap around programs to help more children get the healthcare they need. Without this wraparound benefit, children and families will struggle to be functioning members of society and to contribute to the economies of NH and our country at large.

I firmly believe passing this bill will save New Hampshire costs in the future

Dear Members of the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee, I am writing to express my strong support for Senate Bill 498, which seeks to close the private insurance coverage gap for children’s behavioral health care coordination in New Hampshire. Families navigating a child’s behavioral health needs are often faced with overwhelming complexity. Coordinating care between providers, schools, and support systems is not optional—it is essential. Without effective care coordination, even the most well-intentioned services can become fragmented, delayed, or inaccessible, ultimately worsening outcomes for children and increasing stress on families. Currently, many families are left without coverage for these critical coordination services simply because of the type of insurance they carry. This creates an inequitable system where access to comprehensive care depends not on need, but on insurance structure. SB 498 addresses this gap by ensuring that all children, regardless of their insurance, can benefit from coordinated, integrated behavioral health support. Care coordination helps families: • Navigate complex systems of care • Reduce duplication and inefficiencies in treatment • Improve communication between providers and caregivers • Ensure earlier intervention and more consistent support These are not luxury services, they are foundational to effective behavioral health care. Investing in care coordination also has broader system benefits. When children receive timely and well-coordinated support, it can reduce emergency interventions, hospitalizations, and long-term system involvement. This not only improves quality of life for children and families, but also leads to more sustainable use of healthcare resources. As someone who understands the real challenges families face in accessing behavioral health services, I strongly urge you to support SB 498. This bill represents a meaningful step toward a more equitable, effective, and compassionate system of care for New Hampshire’s children. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Julianna Chrostowski Manchester, NH 03109

I support this bill that will provide children with mental health services regardless of insurance type. I have a son with multiple medical and behavior needs from a rare gene deletion that was no fault of my own. This gene deletion occurs naturally and children like my son will need help with their mental health as they grow. Health insurance is always changing, and families need to know that even with those changes, they can still find mental health providers for their children.

Enhanced care coordination should be more accessible. It is not the same as traditional therapy. It brings together resources and communities in a way therapy can not and helps the most vulnerable New Hampshire Families. It is our responsibility to make support as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. It benefits the individuals, the family, the community, and the greater system as a whole both foundationally and financially.

The NH Wraparound FAST Forward program has helped a lot of families and youth. This is an evidenced based program that works! Sincerely, Kristin Demers

These services cover so many gaps in youth mental health. How can we not support this bill if we claim to care about NH children?

It's time for insurance companies to step up and cover mental health for children. Many teachers can identify kids in need, but the parents are stuck, with no help from insurance providers. These kids struggle, many of them turn to drugs as teens. No family is exempt, any family can have a child with mental health challenges. They desperately need care. I urge you to please pass this bill, to support NH residents and their children's needs. Please remember why you are a state representative, to do what is right and in the best interest of the people. The Insurance Companies need to pay for mental health for our kids, before it's too late. And we have lost too many to suicide. There is a cure!! Please help ensure these kids can get the mental health care they desperately need. Making the state pay for their care is robbing the tax payers, it is the insurance companies responsibility to pay for their care.

I am a retired doctor from Concord. I urge you to support HB HB 498, which would extend availability of valuable mental health services to the children of parents with commercial insurance rather than only those with publicly-funded insurance. Supporting wraparound mental health services for children in the Granite State is one of the most efficient ways to use our tax dollars. We know that children with adverse childhood events leading to mental health disorders benefit profoundly with early and thorough intervention, reducing lifelong burden of both physical illness and behavioral health challenges, including addiction, depression and suicide. The GraniteState as a whole benefits when our children thrive. Please support HB 498! Thank you, Lyn Lindpaintner, MD

Children who could benefit from all the mental health services available to them stand to become less of a burden on society than those who have few options.

I support this will which would help all New Hampshire children get the care they need, no matter what type of insurance they have.

I support this bill because I think it would help all New Hampshire children get the care they need, no matter what type of insurance they have.

My husband is a retired Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and I am supporting this bill because I know how many hours he spent on the phone with a family's insurance company that denied services he recommended for their child. Across the board insurance companies will deny coverage for the sole purpose of making sure they don't lose money and the patient is always at a disadvantage. Parents need to know their child will get the help they need without dealing with a goalkeeper.

No family should be prevented from accessing vital mental health supports and services such as wrap-around care because they are able to afford private health insurance. Do not penalize families for working hard and paying for private health insurance. Coordinated mental health care for our children and youth are vital to their success and that of their families. In my work as an educator I have seen the difference that wrap around care makes for children with significant behavioral health needs.

I am a retired mental health counselor who previously worked in a wraparound program in MA. When children experience mental health issues, their families also suffer. A wraparound program helps the family get the help they need to navigate through their challenges. FAST Forward would ensure that the children of NH, along with their families, get the help they need when help is needed.

It's unconscionable that while insurance companies enjoy record profits families have to pay for evidence based care that those companies won't cover.

I believe that every child must be fully insured at time of birth if the parents have insurance. There is never a guarrantee as to a childs condition at birth, so there should never be any stipulations as to what is and what is not covered by insurance.

As a Guardian ad Litem primarily working with abuse/neglect cases, I know firsthand how important lifesaving care like wraparound programs can be. This should not be something that families have to go broke paying for. It is something that should be covered by private insurance in the same way it is covered by medicaid. I hope that you will support this bill and continue supporting children and families who so desperately need these programs. Thank you for your time.

NH needs to do all it can to expand access to high-fidelity wraparound mental health services for youth and families.

It is frankly ridiculous that our state currently allows commercial insurance carriers to cost-shift the burden of children’s mental health and wraparound services onto New Hampshire taxpayers. These private carriers have a fundamental responsibility to cover these essential services for the families who pay for their plans, rather than dumping the financial responsibility onto the state when a child's condition inevitably worsens. This is common sense, and a nonpartisan issue. SB 498 places the financial responsibility back where it belongs (on the carriers). I hope all Reps, mine included (Rep Walsh from Hampstead) support this bill. SB 498 protects our kids, protects our taxpayers dollars, and stops a bail out of big insurance.

Children today are not getting the mental health care they need. I worked on a pediatric Adolescent psych unit 10 yrs. Our children are not getting the mental health care they need. Our families are not getting the support they need. We need every bill that makes consistency possible.