Hassan, Kuster hear impacts of health care bill

U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan and Rep. Annie Kuster toured Riverbend Community Mental Health in Concord on Thursday afternoon as part of an effort to understand how the Senate Republicans’ health care legislation will impact mental health and substance abuse resources and treatment in New Hampshire.

The Senate health care bill would phase out Medicaid expansion and would create a $2 billion fund to provide grants to states for substance abuse and mental health treatment.

Health care advocates have decried the bill, saying it would cut funding for programs crucial to combating the opioid epidemic.

The tour was followed by testimony from mental health care providers and people in substance abuse recovery, who spoke about how services like Medicaid helped them recover.

Caitlin Andrews