We see a time when all economic, social, cultural, and bureaucratic barriers that make access to New Hampshire’s system of health care expensive, frustrating and confusing have fallen away. This will be a time in which as much emphasis is given to staying healthy as is now given to treating disease. This will be a time when New Hampshire residents suffering from mental illness, disabilities, substance abuse, decaying teeth, and social isolation will have available to them the same resources that today are given to those suffering from heart disease or cancer. This will be a time when bankruptcy will not threaten someone who is ill and no one will have to choose between paying for food and prescription medications. This time will come to New Hampshire if, as a society, we are determined to bring these changes about, if we are persistent, if we recognize that progress is often incremental and slow, and if we never forget that the unit of health care is a human being, each with a unique set of circumstances and needs, that transcends the needs of any institution or health care provider.

It is our intent that, over the next decade, New Hampshire will take a ‘health first’ approach so that all citizens will benefit from proven approaches that improve health and prevent disease. When care is needed it will be delivered according to the highest quality standards and it will be provided in an efficient, measurable and scientifically sound manner to help individuals sustain or improve health. The organization and financing of care will occur in a logically constructed and understandable system.