New Mexico Human Services Department

Use of the federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, rose by 28 percent in New Mexico from September 2008 to this September.

The state stopped accepting individuals into the State Coverage Insurance program (SCI), which helps nearly 50,000 low-income individuals and small employers statewide afford health insurance.

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 state’s unemployment rate rose to 7.5 percent in August, but that depressing figure could have some positive effects. The increase could unlock up to $10 million in additional federal stimulus funding for Medicaid in New Mexico. The new money, if it materializes, would come as the state faces a $40 million shortfall in funding for healthcare for the neediest New Mexicans.

Signs are everywhere that the economic slump is affecting those who have the least resources.
And here’s another: applications for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) – the government program once known as welfare – has jumped in New Mexico.

The recent decline in the number of New Mexicans served by the safety net programs of Medicaid and General Assistance during the worst economic downturn in at least 25 years is of grave concern.