New Hampshire House to vote on Medicaid expansion ban

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The House votes Wednesday on former House Speaker William O’Brien’s bill to bar New Hampshire from expanding Medicaid under the federal health care law.

O’Brien, a Mont Vernon Republican, argues that expanding Medicaid is unaffordable, unnecessary and amounts to an effort by the federal government to hijack state finances.

But bill opponents argue that New Hampshire should act now to take advantage of federal funding being offered under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).