Having a baby in New Hampshire

Program

New Hampshire Medicaid

Agency

New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

Medicaid limit

201% of the poverty level

12-month postpartum coverage since

October 1, 2023

Presumptive eligibility

Yes. A qualified clinic or hospital can enroll you right away.

New Hampshire has no required paid leave. You're paid only if your employer buys the Granite State plan or you buy an individual plan well ahead of time (60% of wages for 6 weeks, after a 7-month wait).

Program

Granite State Paid Family Leave Plan (New Hampshire Paid Family and Medical Leave, NH PFML), insured by MetLife

Legal maximum, your own health

6 weeks

Law in effect since

January 1, 2023

Pay

60% of your average weekly wage (based on the last four completed calendar quarters), with wages capped at the Social Security wage base ($184,500 in 2026); max $2,128.85/week in 2026. Only if you are enrolled: through an employer that buys the plan, or by buying an individual plan yourself.

Job protection

NH PFML pays benefits only; it does not protect your job (MetLife). Separate laws may: federal FMLA (50+ employees, 12 months/1,250 hours, 12 weeks unpaid); NH RSA 354-A:7 VI (employers with 6+ employees must allow unpaid leave for the period you are physically disabled by pregnancy or childbirth, then return you to your job or a comparable one unless business necessity prevents it); and, from Jan. 1, 2026, RSA 275:37-f (employers with 20+ employees must allow up to 25 hours of unpaid leave in the child's first year for childbirth, postpartum and pediatric appointments, with your job held).

Who qualifies

Voluntary. State employees are covered automatically. Any employer with a physical NH location may buy group coverage (6 or 12 weeks). If your employer offers NH PFML and you decline it, you cannot buy individual coverage. If your employer does not offer NH PFML or an equivalent plan, you can buy an individual plan (up to 6 weeks; premium capped at $5/week) during the state's 60-day annual open enrollment. You must work for an employer with an NH location (remote workers count); gig workers, contractors and people who are not employed are not eligible.

Notes

Plan ahead: the individual plan has a 7-month waiting period after enrollment and only a 60-day annual enrollment window, so you have to enroll well before your due date. Weeks: 6 for individual-plan members and for the statutory default; employer plans can offer 6 or 12 weeks. Bonding, your own pregnancy or childbirth recovery, and family care all come out of the same pool per benefit year. Benefits for your own health condition (including pregnancy) are paid only if you don't qualify for insured short-term disability or workers' comp. Employers buying through MetLife can get a 50% Business Enterprise Tax credit for 6 weeks of coverage. Sources differ on job protection: one benefits consultancy says employers with 50+ employees must protect the job of an employee who opts in, but MetLife says NH PFML gives no job protection, and we found no such provision in the state law. Benefits start date: RSA 21-I:111 required coverage to be in place and available by Jan. 1, 2023. Individual buyers could not be paid before about Aug. 2023 because of the 7-month wait. Check paidfamilymedicalleave.nh.gov for 2027 individual enrollment dates. MetLife says individual plans most often take effect Jan. 1 or Feb. 1. Legislation: HB 1761 (2026), which would have created a publicly run program, was sent to interim study on Feb. 19, 2026. No mandatory program has been enacted. The 2027 cap will follow the 2027 Social Security wage base (not yet published by MetLife).

Voluntary means you're covered only if your employer buys a policy or joins an opt-in plan. The weekly maximum is a ceiling, not a typical benefit. Checked October 2026. Amounts usually change January 1 and July 1, so confirm with the state before you plan.

In New Hampshire, the Medicaid health plans we checked cover individual and group lactation consultation, including at home.

Where

outpatient; home

Notes

Coverage comes through NH Medicaid Care Management: the August 2026 NH Healthy Families handbook (a state model handbook) and the September 2026 AmeriHealth Caritas NH handbook both cover individual and group lactation consultation in a provider's office, the home, a hospital or a nursing facility, with no PA from NH Healthy Families for in-network providers. The WellSense handbook was not checked. The fee-for-service rules (He-W 500) have no lactation-specific benefit; breastfeeding education is part of the RN postpartum and newborn home visit (He-W 547). Provider types are not specified.

New Hampshire Medicaid member information

Full-time provider prices before any subsidy, in 2022 dollars. The national median for center infant care was $12,647 a year. 10 county infant center prices were modeled by DOL from statewide survey data rather than reported for the county. 10 county infant center prices were not surveyed in 2022; DOL estimated them from the price trend between other survey years.