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.
New Mexico is one of 21 states without a contingency plan if Congress doesn’t pass legislation approving extra Medicaid dollars to shore up state spending plans.
Congress is currently debating whether to extend extra federal dollars for the government’s low-income health insurance program through June 30, 2011, six months beyond the current deadline of Dec. 31. If the extra dollars don’t come, however, New Mexico will be stuck with a $160 million hole in the state budget that starts next week — July 1 — and that will lead to some very difficult decisions, state officials say.
There is “no plan available for discussion at this time”
“It would be really hard. I don’t know what we would do in New Mexico,” state Medicaid director Carolyn Ingram told the Independent two weeks ago of the potential for the money not showing up. “We could wipe out an entire program I suppose.”
Ingram later added, “The cuts would be so severe that it will put a damper on the economy and put up a wall on the economic recovery.”
Despite the possible carnage, New Mexico isn’t one of the nine state to have contingency plans in case the money doesn’t come, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).
“I think some suggestions are being discussed, but no plan is available for discussion at this time,” Human Services Department spokeswoman Betina Gonzales McCracken told the Independent on Wednesday morning.
New Mexico isn’t alone. Thirty states budgeted the anticipated Medicaid dollars into their budgets without knowing for sure that Congress would extend the funding through June 30, 2011.
Other states are clamping down on eligibility and cutting benefits
California, Idaho, Maine and Maryland are among the nine states with back-up plans and they’re using various strategies to fill budget holes if the extra federal funding doesn’t come, NCSL reported.
Those include everything from eliminating some Medicaid eligibility categories and optional benefits in California and reducing allotments in Maine to depleting budget reserves in Idaho and transferring $200 million to the general fund from a local income tax reserve account in Maryland, according to the NCSL.
It’s uncertain if Congress will ultimately pass the extension of federal Medicaid stimulus dollars. But supporters are still hopeful as Congress continues to debate the idea even as concern over the size of the federal deficit has fed some of the opposition among federal lawmakers.
Among the issues the U.S. Senate and House are wrestling with currently is whether to include the extra Medicaid dollars as part of federal legislation that extends federal tax cuts, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman told The Independent last week.
“FMAP (Medicaid) is part of the Senate’s version of the tax extenders bill, and we remain hopeful this version of the bill will pass soon,” Bingaman spokeswoman Jude McCartin wrote in an e-mail. ”We’re working on tracking down what NM might get, but it may be impossible to say with certainty.”
But even if the Senate passes some kind of extension, there appear to be differences of opinion between House and Senate leaders over exactly what form that Medicaid aid will come.
Leaders in the U.S. House want a broader jobs package and appear to have tied the extra Medicaid dollars to that issue, according to NCSL. Meanwhile, in the U.S. Senate approval of extending the Medicaid aid isn’t a sure thing. Supporters are having trouble attracting enough votes, although there was a new possibility in the Senate.
“Discussions are under way for a scaled-down FMAP (Medicaid) package,” NCSL wrote Tuesday in an update on its website. “Several swing-vote senators have been vocal in their support of this approach. Final language is in development with member discussions taking place behind closed doors.”
