A Democratic-led proposal wants NH Medicaid to cover diapers

State Rep. Carrie Sorensen, a Portsmouth Democrat, speaks before the House Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee about her bill seeking to provide diapers to parents on Medicaid. (Photo by William Skipworth/New Hampshire Bulletin)

A group of lawmakers led by state Rep. Carrie Sorensen wants New Hampshire to become the third U.S. state to cover the cost of diapers for infants under its Medicaid program.

House Bill 1798 would provide eligible families on Medicaid with funding for 100 diapers a month for the first 12 months of an infant’s life. If the bill became law, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services would have to submit a request — known as a Section 1115 waiver — to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to begin the program because Medicaid is run jointly by the state and federal governments.

In a fiscal note presented to the Legislature, state staff told lawmakers they anticipate roughly 3,600 infants will be eligible and take advantage of the service and put the cost of diapers at 46 cents each. Thus they estimate the program could cost the state $919,000 per year in addition to roughly $1.07 million that the federal government would provide annually for the program. For reference, New Hampshire’s entire Medicaid program is projected to spend $2.57 billion in the state’s fiscal year 2025 with 56% of that coming from the federal government. HB 1798 appropriates $100,000 a year for the program, but gives the governor the authority to pull more money as needed.

Sorensen, a Portsmouth Democrat and mother, framed the bill as a way to help new mothers with the financial burden of raising an infant. She noted that SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — doesn’t cover diapers and that new mothers are regularly facing high costs.

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“I can personally attest to this,” she said. “You all heard my baby in the House last year.”

Sorensen argued low-income families are forced to ration diapers, which can lead to urinary tract infections and other medical complications from children not being changed often enough.

“Low-income parents have to make more difficult choices of whether they spend their money on diapers or whether they spend money on food or their heat or their rent,” she said. “Or do they ration diapers, risking their skin and their health? Neither choice is acceptable for a child’s well-being.”

Sorensen said she considered having her bill provide reusable diapers, but decided to go with disposable diapers because of the complications for families that use laundromats. 

In 2024, Delaware and Tennessee became the first states in the country to cover diapers under Medicaid after CMS approved their requests.