NH for-profit hospital proposal approved

The House voted 198-161 yesterday to let for-profit specialty hospitals build in New Hampshire without undergoing the rigorous state review required of other hospitals. The bill also gives those hospitals a possible exemption from a Medicaid tax other hospitals pay. House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt of Salem, one of the bill's co-sponsors, said it would bring jobs to the state by making it easier for hospitals to come to New Hampshire. Opponents like Rep. Rich DePentima, a Portsmouth Democrat, said specialty hospitals take only insured or wealthy patients, he said, leaving the community hospitals with patients who are underinsured or covered by Medicaid.