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New Hampshire
New Hampshire to end Medicaid coverage for weight loss drugs – Valley News
Starting Jan. 1, New Hampshire’s Medicaid program will stop covering GLP-1 drugs — Wegovy, Zepbound, and others — for weight loss.
“We looked at the way that the state was supporting coverage for GLP-1 medicines and found that this was a fairly significant cost driver,” Gov. Kelly Ayotte told reporters on Wednesday. “And so we looked at the medically necessary reasons for it in terms of those who had pre-existing conditions and made the decision working with Health and Human Services to come up with a modified policy that will still allow medications in those circumstances, but then really make sure it is cost sustainable going forward.”
The Alliance for Women’s Health and Prevention wrote a letter to Ayotte Tuesday urging her to reconsider the decision. The organization noted that approximately 30% of women in New Hampshire — and a disproportionately large number of women of color — experience obesity and that obesity is associated with over 200 health complications, citing the American Medical Association and KFF.
Ayotte said Wednesday she would not reconsider the decision.
There are roughly 186,000 enrolled in Medicaid in New Hampshire, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. About 54% of them are women.
“When we’re talking about 180,000 enrollees, children and adults, that’s over 90,000 women who are Medicaid beneficiaries who may be living with obesity and could take advantage of receiving the obesity management medications basically to stem those comorbidities that are associated with living with obesity,” Millicent Gorham, CEO of the Alliance for Women’s Health and Prevention, said in a phone interview with the Bulletin Thursday. “We’re talking about diabetes and high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease and cancer. So if we can stem those diseases, then hopefully we can have more healthier people living in New Hampshire.”
Gorham said the change, announced by the Department of Health and Human Services in October, may provide short-term cost savings but will be more expensive in the long run.
“People are going to be living longer with obesity, which is going to lend to any number of the other 200 comorbidities that are aligned with living with obesity,” she said. “And clearly, when you’re talking about things like diabetes and cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure and cancer and fertility issues that are specific to women, they’re going to end up with higher costs specifically related to those diseases and also specifically related to higher hospitalization costs.”
Gorham pointed to the stigma surrounding obesity and weight loss drugs.
“People really may not understand that people living with obesity is not just about an alternative lifestyle,” she said. “It really is a chronic disease. That’s the first thing that they need to understand: It is a chronic disease, no different than high blood pressure, no different than diabetes, and we need to treat it like that. No other disease has to take on the kind of scrutiny that obesity takes on.”
The Alliance for Women’s Health and Prevention has launched a nationwide effort with a coalition of other health advocacy groups called Everybody Covered to push policymakers to improve coverage of GLP-1 drugs and other obesity treatments.
As of October, 16 states cover GLP-1 drugs, according to KFF. In addition to New Hampshire, California and South Carolina plan to end coverage of the drugs in January. North Carolina ended coverage last month while Michigan plans to limit coverage to people who are “morbidly obese.” The states say they can’t afford the drugs.
The Alliance for Women’s Health and Prevention has been lobbying several states to maintain coverage of the drugs. Gorham said New Hampshire’s response has been “pretty much kinda the same” as other states.
GLP-1 drugs have been shown to be effective for weight loss, though they come with a number of side effects for some patients, including nausea, vomiting, headaches, diarrhea, and constipation, according to Harvard Medical School and the Cleveland Clinic. While some experts and researchers have concerns about the drugs’ long-term impact and safety, many argue the benefits outweigh the known risks.
BRENTWOOD — A Maine woman was indicted this month on charges that she killed her 88‑year‑old mother‑in‑law in her Exeter apartment in 2025.
Danielle Kelsen, 55, was indicted by a Rockingham County grand jury in June on one count of second‑degree murder for “recklessly” causing the death of Janet Kelsen “by inflicting blunt force injuries.” She was also indicted on a misdemeanor charge of wiretapping and eavesdropping for allegedly recording conversations between the two without consent.
An indictment is not an indication of guilt; it means the grand jury found enough evidence to move the case forward to trial.
Janet Kelsen was found dead in her apartment at 133 Front St. in Exeter on the night of Feb. 9, 2025. An autopsy later revealed the cause of death — and confirmed it was a homicide.
Kelsen was arrested in November of 2025 in Southwest Harbor, Maine, as a fugitive from justice and held without bail in the Hancock County Jail. She initially fought extradition, which forced prosecutors to seek a governor’s warrant to bring her back to New Hampshire.
Benjamin Agati, a senior NH assistant attorney general, previously said the investigation involved a lengthy examination of the physical evidence, interviewing witnesses and verifying statements. An arrest warrant for Danielle Kelsen was obtained only after authorities had sufficient evidence, he said.
The court has sealed the arrest warrant that outlines the evidence in Kelsen’s case.
On March 3, Kelsen made her first in‑state court appearance in Brentwood District Court and was ordered held without bail.
If convicted of second‑degree murder, she faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment without parole or “for such term as the court may order,” according to New Hampshire law.
Kelsen is scheduled to be arraigned in Rockingham Superior Court on June 29 at 10 a.m.
Crime
Autopsies determined both died from gunshot wounds.
Authorities are investigating an apparent murder-suicide after a husband and wife in their 70s were found dead Tuesday inside their home in Keene, New Hampshire, officials announced.
Officers with the Keene Police Department responded to a residence on Hurricane Road at 11:10 a.m. to conduct a welfare check, where they discovered the bodies of two adult residents, according to a statement from New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella’s office.
The victims were identified Wednesday as Donna Fairbanks, 70, and her husband Chandler Fairbanks, 72.
Autopsies were conducted Wednesday at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Concord, New Hampshire, prosecutors said.
Donna Fairbanks died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest, and her death was ruled a homicide. Chandler Fairbanks died from a gunshot wound to the head, and his death was ruled a suicide, according to Formella’s office.
“Based upon the information available at this time, it appears that on June 16, inside their home, Chandler Fairbanks shot and killed his wife Donna Fairbanks and then shot and killed himself,” prosecutors said.
Authorities said there is no threat to the public.
No additional information is expected to be released at this time, according to Formella’s office.
New Hampshire
When and where to celebrate Juneteenth in N.H., the only New England state that doesn’t recognize it as a holiday – The Boston Globe
With the newest federal holiday, Juneteenth, coming up on Friday, organizers have planned a variety of events to celebrate emancipation from slavery and reflect on American stories that often have been sidelined.
The jubilee, which Black communities had been celebrating for generations before President Joe Biden signed legislation in 2021 to make it a national holiday, has become a touchstone for broader debates about patriotism and the history of racism. While its proximity to the Fourth of July has long irked some detractors, Juneteenth this year coincides with an even bigger milestone: the nation’s 250th birthday.
JerriAnne Boggis, executive director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, said her team’s lineup of events — which begin Friday and run through June 28 — are intended to be experienced alongside the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. That document captured core American principles and aspirations, she said.
“If we really looked at the Declaration of Independence and strive for those ideals, we would be a stronger and better and more inclusive country than we are right now,” she said.
Juneteenth marks the anniversary of June 19, 1865, which is when the emancipation from slavery was announced in Texas, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation. Texas was the first to recognize it as an official holiday, in 1980. A majority of the states have since followed suit, mostly in the past six years.
New Hampshire is the only state in New England that still doesn’t recognize Juneteenth as a holiday. State lawmakers rejected a proposal in 2024 that would have established the annual holiday. They decided keeping Juneteenth as an annual observance would be “the proper position for New Hampshire.”
Here are some of the Juneteenth events happening in New Hampshire:
June 17
The Hancock Town Library will host an event at 7 p.m. about the history of Juneteenth and books about African American history.
June 18
The Keene Public Library will host a film screening and Q&A on Thursday, June 18, at 6 p.m. about the 2026 documentary “Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It.”
June 19
The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire will host a Freedom Walk at 9 a.m., followed by a 10 a.m. ceremony at the African Burying Ground in Portsmouth to honor marginalized communities.
The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester will host an all-ages art-making event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a special tour at 1 p.m. highlighting Black American artists.
Juneteenth Nashua will host a Freedom Day celebration from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Downtown Riverwalk.
A group called “DEI in the Lakes & Mountains” will host a celebration at Camp Hale in Center Sandwich from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The city of Keene, W.S. Badger, and the Keene Family YMCA will host a celebration from 5 to 8 p.m. at Fuller Park. The musician JohnLu will perform beginning at 6:30 p.m.
June 20
Juneteenth New England, organized by BWINH Inc., will host a celebration at 1 p.m. at Crossway Christian Church in Nashua.
June 21
The Black Heritage Trail will have live performers embody five historic African Americans from New Hampshire’s past at 11 a.m. in Portsmouth.
June 28
The Black Heritage Trail will offer a ticketed guided bus tour beginning at 10 a.m. in Portsmouth, followed by an interactive exhibit at 1 p.m. at the American Independence Center in Exeter.
This story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. Sign up here.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
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