Latest news with #MedicaidTrustFund
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Potential Medicaid cuts drive NM health legislation plans
Rep. Larry Scott (R-Hobbs) speaks during a committee hearing during the 2025 legislative session. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) As a panel of state lawmakers on Tuesday planned out their work for the rest of the year, their hopes to improve health outcomes for New Mexicans were overshadowed by the looming threat of federal cuts to health insurance coverage. At the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee's first meeting since the most recent legislative session, Rep. Larry Scott (R-Hobbs) told the committee lawmakers need to be ready if the U.S. government turns administration of Medicaid over to the states. 'I don't think any of those changes should try to take us by surprise,' Scott said. State and federal officials say the GOP budget bill making its way through the U.S. Congress could not only reduce federal spending on Medicaid but also the oil and gas revenue that the state government could use to cover the costs. In the worst-case scenario, the proposal would translate to cuts of more than $1.1 billion for New Mexico's Medicaid program, according to one of the Legislature's top budget advisers. The worries over Medicaid cuts come as New Mexico is in the middle of restructuring its entire behavioral health care treatment system, with the state's Medicaid program expected to create a group of licensing boards to help streamline mental health providers' credentialing. During public comment at Tuesday's meeting, Rick Madden, chair of government affairs at the New Mexico Medical Society, told the committee that his organization strongly supports the committee's focus on the potentially extreme effects of funding cuts and work requirements on local patients and communities. Sen. Liz Stefanics (D-Cerrillos) said she wants the health panel to receive updates from the Federal Funding Stabilization Subcommittee, which legislative leaders created late last month in order to track all federal money coming into New Mexico. 'Many of us, of course, are very concerned about it, and it's not just Medicaid that we need to be concerned about,' Stefanics said. Rep. Marianna Anaya (D-Albuquerque) suggested the panel have a joint meeting with the Legislative Finance Committee for any health care-related cuts coming from the federal government, not limited to Medicaid. 'When we're talking about funding and affordability, knowing that we're going to have to plug holes, what realistically does the picture look like for us?' Anaya asked. During the legislative session, New Mexico created a new Medicaid Trust Fund that aims to generate enough in interest to pay for at least some of what the federal government could cut in Medicaid spending. Rep. Eleanor Chavez (D-Albuquerque) wants the committee to review what's happening with that money. The committee's next meeting is scheduled for June 25 through June 27. Lawmakers also suggested where they will hold their meetings, however, a complete schedule was not available as of Tuesday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate OKs $2 billion trust fund to fight any federal Medicaid cuts
It's the most basic financial advice you can get: Always save for a rainy day. So amid concerns about cuts in Medicaid programs coming down from Washington in the coming years, the New Mexico Senate unanimously approved a measure to set aside billions of dollars in rainy-day money for the state Medicaid program. Senate Bill 88, which has earned bipartisan support from top Senate Democrats and Republicans, would over several years build up a $2 billion pot of money known as the Medicaid Trust Fund to then match federal dollars, especially if the state sees cuts. "This is a very prudent use of our resources here," said Sen. Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, one of the bill's sponsors. The money would be funded with certain earnings the state treasury receives through investments from other accounts and funds. In the coming fiscal year, nearly $280 million is expected to go into the fund. Money will flow into the Medicaid Trust Fund until it reaches $2 billion. In fiscal year 2029, the fund would begin making distributions into the State-Supported Medicaid Fund, which would also be created under SB 88. Those dollars would support the state Medicaid program and/or match federal Medicaid funding. Medicaid, which provides health coverage to low-income people, is administered at the state level and is partially funded by the state but relies heavily on federal dollars — the federal government pays for 70% to 90% of Medicaid costs in New Mexico, depending on the population, according to an analysis published last year by the Legislative Finance Committee. Under a budget resolution passed in the U.S. House of Representatives last week, Republicans called for the House Energy and Commerce committee, which handles health care spending, to find about $880 billion in savings over 10 years, including from programs like Medicaid. It's not clear yet how the state would be impacted by cuts to Medicaid on the federal level — the New Mexico Health Care Authority did not answer a question Wednesday about potential cuts. "Protecting New Mexicans' access to health care continues to be our top priority," Health Secretary Kari Armijo said in a statement. "We share the Legislature's concerns about potential federal funding cuts and appreciate their work to develop financing strategies that will continue to support the more than 873,000 New Mexicans covered by Medicaid." In the New Mexico Senate on Wednesday, SB 88 faced little opposition but saw lawmakers support the bill based on their concerns over potential federal Medicaid cuts. Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas, said the trust fund was a way for the state to continue caring for those who are most underserved. "If there are cuts in Medicaid, if there are cuts in other forms of funding, we need to have … the resources to help to take care of that," he said. The bill's passage in the Senate also comes after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last week all but guaranteed she would call a special session of the Legislature to address federal funding cuts, noting possible Medicaid trimming was of particular concern. Sharer said he does not necessarily share the same concerns about cuts to federal Medicaid funding. Still, he pointed to a trigger mechanism in the bill that would allow the state to begin drawing money from the Medicaid Trust Fund sooner than 2029 should cuts in federal Medicaid dollars lead to losses in coverage or benefits in New Mexico. "I believe that federally, they're looking for fraud, waste and abuse, not to harm us," he said. "But this does have a trigger, just in case, and so I think that that's great."
