More than three years after the health care expansion, of New Mexico鈥檚 total population is signed up for Medicaid. But budgets are tight, and the is trying to figure out how to make it all work. Some of the presented at a public meeting in Albuquerque were contentious.
The future is uncertain for federal heath care funding, and the state鈥檚 coping with budget woes, even though its Medicaid bill is getting bigger fast. HSD got about than it asked for from the state Legislature for next year, according to .
鈥淲e also have think about how to make it sustainable, too,鈥� Earnest said. 鈥淪o we鈥檒l talk about the budget situation we face today.鈥�
The department has to submit an application to the federal government at the end of the year about what the next generation of the program could look like. A met for about six months and came up with some ideas, like:
鈥� Eliminating free vision and dental services for adults
鈥� Co-pays
鈥� More frequent income checks on the 900,000 New Mexicans who use Medicaid
鈥� Fees for people who miss appointments more than three times
鈥� No longer allowing Medicaid to retroactively cover recent medical debt
At the public meeting, one person in the crowd told HSD that those aren鈥檛 sustainable fixes.
鈥淭he long-term consequences I think are more costly,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd just keep on putting a Band-Aid on it is not effective.鈥�
People said some of the would really end up preventing folks from going to the doctor when they need to, which means more emergency room visits in the long run. And that kind of thing often hits public budgets pretty hard.
Probably the most controversial suggestion? Charging some New Mexicans on Medicaid a . For a household making $12,000 a year, it鈥檇 be about $20 each month.
is the president of , which aims to help people become economically secure. 鈥淟ow-income families just simply don鈥檛 have that money,鈥� she said.
She talked about the problems she sees with these proposals in the hall outside the meeting.
鈥淣ow think about it. We鈥檙e going to pay a monthly fee, even though we don鈥檛 need the doctor necessarily, right?鈥� Porter said. 鈥淪o what this really does is discourage people from signing up at all.鈥�
We鈥檝e made such great strides with health care in New Mexico, she said. The health care expansion the number of people who were uninsured.
鈥淭o go backwards now is crazy in this economic environment, where people鈥攚orking as hard as they can鈥攃an鈥檛 move ahead,鈥� Porter said. 鈥淎nd having basic health services is critical to their well-being, and also to their pocketbook.鈥�
, CEO of , said people dropping off the Medicaid program altogether would be a step in the wrong direction.
"I think both for the individuals and for us as a society, we鈥檙e going to see a lot of negative impacts of that,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f the department goes ahead with this plan, I am afraid鈥攁nd a lot of my colleagues share this concern鈥攖hat a lot of people are going to lose that benefit. And as a result, well they鈥檙e just going to go without services.鈥�
is executive director of the , which he said has experience treating people with low incomes. And he doesn鈥檛 take issue with many of the on the table, including co-pays.
鈥淧eople are able to make a small co-pay,鈥� Roddy said. 鈥淗owever, you know in the case of a premium, if you don鈥檛 pay it, you lose coverage. That鈥檚 drastic.鈥�
Spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the next phase of Medicaid will build on what the expansion started: making sure patients get the right care at the right time.
Any changes that go through would take effect in 2019 and last for five years. is a deputy director with the of HSD. He said hearing criticism from advocates and people enrolled in the program is necessary.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what this whole process is for,鈥� Sanchez said. 鈥淲e want to hear feedback. We want to hear input. We want to know reaction to the proposals that we put out there. That鈥檚 part of the whole process.鈥�
A revised version of these ideas is slated for public comment again in .
鈥�&苍产蝉辫;Monday, June 19, Silver City, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
WNMU GRC Auditorium (1000 W. College Ave., 88061)
鈥� Wednesday, June 21, Farmington, 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Bonnie Dallas Senior Center (109 E. La Plata St., 87401)
鈥� Friday, June 23, Tribal Consultation Hearing, Albuquerque, 9 a.m. to noon
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (2401 12th Street NW, 87104)
鈥� Monday, June 26, Roswell, 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Roswell Public Library (301 N. Pennsylvania Ave., 88201)
