CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire health officials told a legislative oversight committee Friday that about 6,300 people could lose Medicaid coverage under new federal work requirements, far below the 29,000 cited in a recent report by the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. A senator on the panel said the report's timing, days before Tuesday's election, was "really peculiar."

The work requirements take effect Jan. 1 and apply only to Granite Advantage, the state's Medicaid expansion program, officials from the Department of Health and Human Services told the Health and Human Services Oversight Committee, according to a recording of the meeting.

Based on enrollment data from Sept. 1, officials said, the department already knows most Granite Advantage members are either exempt or meet the requirement. That leaves about 6,300 people whose status is unknown and who "possibly could lose coverage," one official said. "Nowhere near 29,000."

The institute's analysis, published Oct. 20, estimated that 23,000 to 29,000 adults could lose coverage by 2028 and that enrollment could fall by as much as 60%, the Boston Globe reported. The report's author told the Globe that the paperwork burden alone could cause otherwise eligible people to be dropped.

The department's officials said the 29,000 figure came from an Urban Institute projection made before federal rules were finalized and before the state adopted flexibility measures the committee approved.

'Grossly misstated'

The department's commissioner said the institute had asked for information, but "within the back and forth, some things got lost," and by then it was too late to change the report. The commissioner said the department's biggest concern was that the report created "unnecessary anxiety" among people on Medicaid.

A senator on the committee called the report "grossly misstated and uh very problematic" and said it had caused "a lot of discontent and a lot of angst."

"The timing of it was, you know, really peculiar, you know, where we have an election coming," the senator said, and asked whether the department would write an op-ed to correct the record.

The commissioner said the department is weighing "multiple avenues of communications," including an op-ed and press interviews, and added: "Is it responsible to not check your data sources before you publish them? Probably not a good idea."

A House member said online ads from a group called Amplify NH Action Fund had been running in the lawmaker's district and cited the 29,000 figure. Amplify NH is a progressive advocacy group, according to the Concord Monitor.

Who must comply, and when

Officials said the 6,300 people would not all lose coverage on Jan. 1. Current members are checked when their eligibility comes up for renewal, so the first group would face the requirement in March. Some could still qualify by claiming medical frailty or by earning at least $580 a month.

Another lawmaker asked whether the number could turn out to be higher if eligible people fail to finish their paperwork. An official said the figure could also come in lower, and that the department will publish data on why people lose coverage.

Officials also noted that a federal district court in Massachusetts issued a ruling on medical frailty standards the night before the meeting, and said they are still assessing what it means for New Hampshire.

The department will hold public hearings on its medical frailty criteria Nov. 5 and Nov. 10 and take public comment through Dec. 7, officials said.