I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
A just-published survey of Medicaid directors in all 50 states shows that New Mexico officials aren’t alone in fretting about how to adequately fund the government’s low-income health insurance program.
The executive summary of the survey, which was issued Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, shows that Medicaid directors across the country are echoing concerns voiced here in New Mexico.
The Medicaid directors specifically are worried about the end of federal stimulus funding in December 2010, which has helped their states pay for rising Medicaid costs as more people enroll because of job losses due to the recession:
“With few options left to achieve significant additional Medicaid cost reductions, and faced with the expiration of the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, as the federal stimulus is officially known) enhanced FMAP in December 2010, many states believe they may be pressured to consider previously unthinkable eligibility and benefit reductions.”
New Mexico officials already are publicly talking about “previously unthinkable” options to trim Medicaid costs, including eliminating many, if not all, optional services.
New Mexico could face a $300 million gap in Medicaid as of Jan. 1, 2011, partly due to ending of federal stimulus Medicaid funding Dec. 31, 2010. New Mexico Human Services Secretary Pam Hyde has said no decisions have been made, but her agency is trotting out such options because of the potential severity of the situation.
Many states view the federal stimulus dollars as a godsend as Medicaid spending and enrollment has outpaced expectations during the recession, the survey summary shows.
Total Medicaid spending growth averaged 7.9 percent across all states in FY 2009, the highest rate of growth in six years and higher than the original projections of 5.8 percent growth. Medicaid Directors overwhelmingly attributed the growth to higher than expected increases in caseload due to the recession. Enrollment growth averaged 5.4 percent in FY 2009, significantly higher than the 3.6 percent enrollment growth projected at the start of FY 2009. For FY 2010, states projected that Medicaid enrollment growth would continue to accelerate, increasing on average by 6.6 percent above FY 2009 levels.
New Mexico, like other states, faces what officials call a “revenue cliff” when the stimulus funding runs out. Hyde’s agency has projected that Medicaid services—such as hospital stays and physician services—are projected to grow to $550 million in early 2011. That’s compared to a projected $340 million for optional services, Hyde said during a legislative hearing last month.
If the state cuts $300 million to close the shortfall, very little money would be left for services that aren’t mandatory, she told state lawmakers.
