According to a study by Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the Senate Finance Committee version of the health care reform bill would cost New Mexicans more than the health care reform bill that passed out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Senator Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., is a member of both committees and voted for both bills.

The study says, “The HELP bill will save $3,879 a year compared to the Finance bill for a New Mexico family with $51,058 in annual income.”

“This report finds that New Mexico families will have good, affordable health care if the Senate enacts the HELP Committee bill instead of the Finance Committee bill,” said Doctor Yadira Caraveo, a pediatrician intern in Albuquerque, in a HCAN press release. “We urge our Senators to support the HELP Committee bill so that people in New Mexico can get a guarantee of good coverage at work or be able to truly afford coverage if they need to buy it outside of work.”

One of the major differences between the two bills is that the Finance Committee bill does not include a public health insurance option.