When Senate Bill 297 was introduced as a late bill in February, it created worry and confusion for local governments.

The bill was written at the request of the office of the Secretary of State, who sought to substantially change how they regulate New Hampshire’s pooled risk management programs, often called risk pools. They claimed urgent changes were needed to ensure these programs stayed solvent.

These newly proposed regulations were drafted with no stakeholder input. Many local public employees who receive health insurance through the state’s two biggest health risk pools, HealthTrust and SchoolCare, became concerned about the future of their health coverage.

As initially drafted, SB 297 gave minimal consideration to how municipalities and school districts operate and budget, how the state’s two largest health risk pools operate and how local public employees would be impacted. It also gave no regard to the reality that more than one risk pool model has existed in this state for decades.

The bill would force municipalities and school districts to create local reserves for special assessments, essentially surprise bills, to be paid to the risk pools by the local government members when the regulator determined the risk pool needed more money. The amount of these surprise bills had no limit under SB 297’s original language, meaning municipalities and school districts would take on unlimited financial risk.

These proposed regulations upended HealthTrust’s member-centered operations so much that they announced earlier this year they would stop issuing new health insurance plans if the original version of SB 297 became law. HealthTrust’s announcement created significant concerns for over 77,000 local public employees and their family members who depend on the health insurance plans issued and managed by HealthTrust, including my town, Greenland.

Many towns and school districts cannot find affordable health insurance anywhere else but from the risk pools. There was also concern that employees might need to contribute towards the special assessments, which means many hardworking families would see their health insurance costs dramatically increase mid-year if the Secretary of State ordered a health risk pool to issue a surprise bill.

And yet, the bill still passed through the Senate with minimal changes.

Seeing the significant flaws in these proposed regulations and how much uncertainty they would create for towns, cities, school districts and local public employees, the New Hampshire House took a deeper look at SB 297. The House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee realized the bill needed to be rethought and amended. Several key stakeholders, including the Police Chiefs Association, began advocating for risk pools to be regulated by the Department of Insurance under the department’s existing framework of clear, objective statutes and rules that also govern insurance companies.

The call for the regulator change became heightened when a smaller health risk pool, New Hampshire Interlocal Trust, went into receivership in April under the Secretary of State’s current regulations. Over several work sessions, the committee produced a reasonable and innovative compromise amendment that would ensure New Hampshire’s risk pools will stay solvent and improve the regulatory framework so they can thrive.

Under the version of SB 297 passed by the House last week, risk pools that are assessable, meaning their bylaws state they can send mid-year bills, would stay under the Secretary of State’s regulatory framework, which uses most of the language from the original bill with appropriate modifications. Those that are non-assessable, meaning they cannot send mid- year bills, would be regulated by the Department of Insurance.

The current version of SB 297 acknowledges that both risk pool models should be permitted to exist, as they have in our state for decades, providing clarity to local governments and allowing them to determine the type of relationship they are comfortable with should they wish to be members of one or more risk pools. Additionally, the bill now contains clearer, defined requirements for risk pool reserve levels, thereby eliminating any ambiguity and promoting fiscal solvency.

Under the House’s version of SB 297, all risk pool models can operate in the best interest of their members, and New Hampshire’s local public employees will be assured that their health insurance plans will continue to exist.

SB 297 now heads back to the Senate this Thursday for our Senators to vote on. They can either agree with the House’s version, request a committee of conference or vote to kill the bill. It is essential to risk pool members, local governments and their employees that the Senate adopt the House’s version of SB 297.

Since Interlocal Trust’s demise, towns and school districts who were members of Interlocal Trust have been scrambling to find alternative health insurance plans for employees. We cannot risk any more pools going into receivership. SB 297 is a long-term solution that addresses the concerns of all stakeholders and protects the health insurance plans of public employees.

Tara Tucker is the chief of police in Greenland and serves as the treasurer of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police. She lives in Nottingham.