We're headed back to Santa Fe on Friday, much to the dismay of many lawmakers who are either knee deep in campaigning, getting kids back to school or, now, frustrated by the difficulty in getting a room in Santa Fe as Indian Market and the popular Antiquities Show get underway.
The Governor said he was planning to call a Special Session back in February after the legislature failed to move toward universal health coverage, even after the House watered down his bill. And when the price of oil and gas skyrocketed in mid-summer, he added an enticement-tax cuts, rebates and holidays for consumers strapped by the high prices at the pump and at the grocery store, and $200 million in highway projects in rural New Mexico. The fly in the ointment, however, started buzzing when the price of oil and gas went down-good for us as consumers, but bad for the state's permanent funds. Hence, there's a big debate going on between the administration and the legislature's economists on what the size of the bonanza will be. The Governor's forces estimate it at about $400 million and the Legislature is calling it at about $66 million. This week, the economists are supposed to get together to make a joint forecast, to see just how much extra money we have. We'll go from there.
I have a few favorites among the Governor's proposals, and, as you might have guessed, health care is at the top of my list. One of the proposals is to cover all kids with health insurance, starting with those who are eligible for Medicaid (approximately 50,000). It's estimated to cost $58 million in state funds, with the Feds matching the expenditure to the tune of $130 million. A good investment, if you ask me. Combine that with the proposed expansion of the Low Income Home Energy and Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a tax credit for working families, and an expansion of the state child care assistance program, and you have gotten real relief to working families at the lower end of the ladder.
Healthcare Still a Focus: Covering Kids A Possibility
The Governor has scaled back his proposal for universal health coverage and broken it down into three bills.
The first is one includes insurance reforms that forbid insurance companies from turning down people with pre-existing conditions, raising the rates dramatically when they get sick, and requiring that at least 85% of the money collected in premiums be spent on direct medical care (as opposed to administration and profit). It also includes a mandate that all children through age 19 be covered by health care (although there is no mechanism for enforcement), and appropriates $58 million to cover the first few years of the cost.
The second creates a health care benefits administration, which would consolidate the administration of several existing public healthcare programs-including state employees, and local public bodies, public school teachers, APS and, in the next year, Retiree Health, and the Health Insurance Alliance. The consolidation applies only to the administration-- not to the funding streams and/ or the actuarial pools. A Health Care Board, jointly appointed by the Governor and the Legislature, would be set up to see whether the pools should be further consolidated, whether Medicaid should be included, how costs could be controlled, whether uninsured people could buy into the pool, and what would actually constitute " affordable" coverage.
(If you eyes have not glazed over at this point, you are a true health policy wonk, thus earning gold stars, and the special veggie snacks.)
The third bill simply sets up a framework for electronic medical records that protects privacy, should such records ever come into use. There is nothing in the bill that mandates or funds the implementation of electronic records systems.
We'll see how far any of these proposals get. Let me know which you favor or oppose. At this point, I'm not sure to what degree legislators want to tackle them… but I'll be pushing for the Medicaid piece as well as the insurance reforms.
I'll try and keep you updated during the Special Session. We have no clue how long it will last and what the schedule is, but you can always get a message to me through [email protected]. Who knows? We may all find that we have no revenue to work with, and go home right away. If we're going to stay to do health care, however, and you agree with my priorities, please call members of the Senate Finance Committee, especially to urge them to fund health care for all children in New Mexico.
(Go to http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/ to find those legislators and their contact information)
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