New Mexico State Senator Dede Feldman's Blog

Cover the Uninsured Week

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[click on picture to enlarge]

(l to r) Del Esparza, Chair, Alb. Chamber of Commerce; NM Human Services Secretary Pam Hyde; Lt. Governor Diane Denish; Sen. Dede Feldman; and Jeff Dye, Director of the NM Hospital Association, unveil billboard advertising lower cost health insurance for employers.  All were members of the Governor's  Insure New Mexico Council.

This week is “Cover the Uninsured Week” and, with over 400,000 people without health insurance in New Mexico, we have plenty to do.  We’re still the second to the worst among all the states when it comes to the largest percent of the population without health coverage -- but there have been several new pushes from the Legislature and the Governor to establish insurance coverage for the uninsured in the past two years. 

Earlier this week Lt. Governor Diane Denish, NM Human Services Secretary Pam Hyde and I unveiled a billboard advertising campaign designed to get small businesses to enroll their employees in one of these programs, the State Coverage Insurance (SCI) Program.  The SCI program is a partnership between employers, employees, and the state and the federal Medicaid program to provide more affordable private insurance policies.  It is specifically designed to appeal to low-income workers below 200% of poverty  (for example, a family of four with an income of below $40,000 per year) who work for small employers. Employers can sign up for a policy, pay only $75 per employee per month.  The employee will pay between $0-$35 per month, with the state and the feds picking up the balance of the cost through the Medicaid program.

It’s a good deal for small employers, although there have not been as many takers as hoped since the program began last July. Call 1-800-204-4700 for more information, or go to the Insure New Mexico website at http://insurenewmexico.state.nm.us.
 
The Insure New Mexico Council, which I served on for two years, has rolled out a number of other programs for employers and non-profits as well, including:

•A re-invigorated Health Insurance Alliance with better prices for employers whose employees are not near the poverty line, but need coverage nonetheless.

•A Small Employer Insurance Program, which I sponsored, for small employers(including non-profit organizations) to voluntarily buy into a state-administered health insurance program.  This program includes only those employers who do not currently offer insurance.  It is slated to begin this summer.

For more information on any of these programs call the NM Health Insurance Alliance at 1-800-204-4700.  They will steer you to the one that’s best for you.  Information on all these programs—and more can be found at http://insurenewmexico.state.nm.us.

None of this information is designed as an exclusive pitch for the employer based model of health insurance coverage or to minimize the importance of the Medicaid program -- which I see as primary.  We are expanding that as well, in order to cover more people, using the handsome three-to-one funding match provided by the feds. I think we could do much more in that direction as well.   

Upcoming events in Cover the Uninsured Week:

Tuesday May 2  10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.: Small Business Seminar to explain options for small businesses including  FREE LUNCH at the South Broadway Cultural Center, 1025 South Broadway

Thursday May 4 8:00-9:30 a.m.: Business Summit on the impact of health care costs at the Rody Law Firm, 201 3rd St. NW Suite 2200

This Weekend’s Tricentennial Celebration: Tricentennial Tiguex Park

Rosie and me enjoying the festivities.
    
 
Tricentennial anyone?  Tiguex Park near Old Town had a makeover and is poised to play a central role in this weekend’s upcoming Tricentennial Celebration.  The park, in fact, has been renamed Tricentennial Tiguex Park and there was a sweet celebration a week or so ago, complete with the entire student body of the nearby San Felipe School.  The controversy over the pioneers statue and the state’s Native Americans had been swept under the carpet for this one, with special recognition given to local genealogy buffs like Emma Moya  (you DON’T KNOW Emma Moya??) and Rosie DeLaFuente, of the Sawmill Neighborhood. 

New Mexico Donor Plates Ready Mid May

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Ernie and me displaying a prototype of the new license plate.

April is Donate Life Month and NM Donor Services is reminding people that the special Donate Life NM License Plates will be ready to order in mid May.  These license plates are designed to encourage New Mexicans to donate their organs after they die, which they can do by indicating their willingness when they get their drivers’ licenses. I’ve never been enthusiastic about commemorating these special, nationwide months for various diseases and causes.  But this one’s exceptional.  Here’s a personal story as to why. 
      

I had heard that there were 500 people waiting for organs here in New Mexico, but I forgot about Ernie Montoya.  I met Ernie when I was first going door to door, campaigning for the NM Senate in 1996.  He was o.k. at the time, but rapidly went down hill and spent years and years on dialysis.  Truthfully, I hadn’t seen him for some time, and I assumed he had died.  Imagine my surprise then when he appeared at an early April event to help unveil the new license plate!!  He had a kidney transplant.  He was there with his family (his 3 month old nephew had also received a heart transplant as a result of a donor, but that’s another story) to thank donors and urge others to “donate a life.” Wow.  It really makes me feel good about sponsoring a bill to produce these licenses last year.   
      
The licenses will cost $12 more than the usual ones and can be ordered at New Mexico Donor Services website, www.donatelifenm.org.  I’m getting the first one.  Hope you’ll join me.  I hear they make great novelty items, purses, lampshades, too. (I kid you not, I have a purse like this with the old license plate-- It’s a great conversation starter).  For more information call Maria at NM Donor Services at 843-7672.

New Mexico Senator Dede Feldman and Representative Mimi Stewart Speak Out for New Priorities in Federal Budget

For Immediate Release:                                                          Contact:  Sen.Dede Feldman
Monday April 3, 2006                                                              505-220-5958

New Mexico Senator Dede Feldman, Representative Mimi Stewart  Join 155 Women State Legislators to Speak Out for New Priorities in Federal Budget

WASHINGTON, DC -  Calling for a new and better definition of security,
New Mexico Senator Dede Feldman and Representative Mimi Stewart, both Albuquerque Democrats, were among the 155 women state legislators from 45 states  who signed onto a letter delivered on March 14, 2006 to every
Member of Congress, urging significant changes in the proposed FY07 federal
budget.

"Our citizens expect and deserve basic services to keep our community safe
and secure," says Feldman. "People in Albuquerque want a
police force that's properly trained; a fire department that's adequately
equipped; a hospital staffed and ready for any emergency. Common sense
budgeting would prioritize these basic services instead of throwing away
money on outdated, expensive, and ineffective Cold War weapons over at the
Pentagon. That's where this President is funneling OVER HALF of all dollars
in our discretionary federal budget."

The letter cites the fact that the Pentagon budget — which does not even include the money needed for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — is growing at a time when
funds for human needs are shrinking.

And with an “off-budget” expenditure of $315 billion made for the war in Iraq since it began, the price tag has gone up even further.  The National Priorities Project estimates that the war has cost New Mexico taxpayers $993.1 million so far.

Across the country, states and localities are feeling the squeeze from
federal budget cuts - particularly now, when they are scrambling to provide
desperately needed services. The legislators’ letter states: "Hurricane Katrina laid bare
many of the shortcomings in the federal government's ability to address
Americans in crisis. And yet this budget request cuts funds to cities and
states for first responders and critical infrastructure protection by 26
percent. It also eliminates tailored grants to law enforcement and medical
personnel and significantly reduces funding for firefighters."

Feldman says that shrinking federal funding means that states and localities will have to pick up the bill for domestic disasters like Katrina, fires, droughts, and public health emergencies. 

Under the current budget proposal New Mexico would lose $1.3 million in funding for infant formula and other food for nursing women and children under the WIC program.  It would lose 157 Head Start slots, $1.1 million in funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, almost $2.3 million for community policing, and $4.8 million for housing and jobs provided through Community Development Block Grants. 

”As the most powerful, wealthiest country in the world, we should be able to
assure the security of our citizens. We should be smart enough to make wise cuts in the regular pentagon budget and act quickly to address the real needs of our people and our communities,” says Feldman.  --30--