There are fewer uninsured people in New Hampshire, in part due to expanded Medicaid and insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act.
New numbers released by the New Hampshire Insurance Department show the number of uninsured people dropped from 11 percent in 2013 to 6 percent in 2015.
The report is a measure of the effect of health care reform in New Hampshire. From 2014 to 2015, 37,000 people in the state gained insurance.
The Insurance Department estimates that about 27 percent of the uninsured population are eligible for Medicaid and another 20 percent are eligible for premium tax credits that help them purchase insurance on the state’s exchange.
The number of people who get insurance through the exchanges still represents a small portion in New Hampshire.
The majority of state residents – 57 percent – get health insurance through their employers, compared to the 6 percent that have individual coverage.
Federal Medicare and Medicaid programs are the next highest insurers in the state; Medicare covers nearly 13 percent of the population, while Medicaid covers 9 percent.
The report also found that rising prescription drug costs are having an effect on overall spending in the state. Pharmacy costs increased nearly 9 percent and made up 19 percent of total medical costs in the state.
Furthermore, expensive specialty drugs are also having an impact. The top 50 high cost brand drugs made up less than 1 percent of total prescriptions, but 9 percent of total costs in group insurance markets.
Common specialty drugs used in New Hampshire include drugs used for chemotherapy and to treat complex diseases like Hepatitis C and cystic fibrosis. The average cost of these drugs is over $17,000 per prescription, according to the report.
(Ella Nilsen can be reached at 369-3322, enilsen@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @ella_nilsen.)