Opinion

It is time to take care of people who need it

Karen Jameson
Cornish
To the editor,

As a registered nurse with a master’s degree in health education and a home-visiting nurse with TLC Family Resource Center, I hope that lawmakers will pass SB 274, a bill which will make home visiting available to more New Hampshire families.

Home visiting makes a difference in the lives of children and their parents on a daily basis. I see it when we are able to help a homeless family of four apply for subsidized housing and get out of the homeless shelter. I see it when we are able to help a woman with three children get help with substance use treatment so her kids can avoid going into foster care. I see it when we are able to connect a pregnant woman with gestational diabetes with emergency healthy food resources.

However, none of these families meet the criteria for Medicaid home visiting, being older than 21 and/or having multiple children.

Social determinants of health do not abide by age restrictions and limited family size.

Several years ago, the state restricted Medicaid home visiting to first-time moms who were under age 21 and pregnant or in the first two weeks postpartum. Those restrictions eliminated my more high risk families, who are often older, have multiple children, and suffer from negative social determinants of health such as substance use, poverty and mental health concerns.

It is time to open the Medicaid home visiting program back up to all pregnant and parenting women by passing SB 274.

 

Karen Jameson

Cornish

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