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.
About 18,000 New Mexicans who purchase individual Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance plans are about to see a 29.5 percent increase in their payments. Another 2,700 individuals will see a 10 percent increase, and “a handful” in a couple of other plans won’t have an increase. Another individual insurance plan provider, Presbyterian Health Plan, will increase premiums about 10 percent this year, according to a report in today’s Albuquerque Journal.
The increases are justified due to rising medical costs and demographic changes, a representative of New Mexico Insurance Division told the Journal, which reported that health expenditures in the U.S. grew 6.4 percent in 2009, while inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index declined 0.4 percent in 2009.
One New Mexico congressional representative expressed outrage at the increases in a statement.
“At a time when families throughout New Mexico are struggling to make ends meet, these rate increases are outrageous,” Rep. Ben Ray Luján, CD-3, said. “This is just the latest sign that we need health insurance reform now. We have to put a stop to out-of-control practices of health insurance companies that hurt New Mexicans and put their health in danger.”
Meanwhile, Democratic Senators in Washington, D.C. are signaling they’ll pass a health care reform bill on a straight up or down vote using reconciliation, a procedural process that will let them pass the bill with only 51 votes rather than the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster in the Senate. The reconciliation process can only be used on matters affecting the budget, but many argue the health care bill has significant budgetary implications given the rising cost of health care, which impacts public dollars through the Medicare and Medicaid systems.
