GOP budget cuts to Medicaid could fray New Mexico's safety net
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Medicaid is a lifeline for many of New Mexico's families, making it one of six states that could be severely affected by cuts Congressional Republicans could make in the coming months.
Data from the Center for American Progress and U.S. Census show more than half of births in New Mexico are covered by Medicaid, a joint federal and state program helping those with limited income and resources.
Edwin Park, a public policy research professor at Georgetown University, said the range of health care covered is vast.
"(It) covers kids in (the) child welfare foster care system," Park outlined. "For people with disabilities, one-third receive Medicaid coverage and 42 percent of kids with special health care needs get coverage, at least in part, through Medicaid."
In total, more than 79 million Americans rely on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program for life-saving care including otherwise unaffordable prescription drugs and nursing home stays. The Trump administration is looking for savings to fund the president's other priorities, including extending his 2017 tax cuts, which primarily benefit the wealthy and corporations.
Republicans already have pushed through a blueprint to deliver President Donald Trump's agenda.
Alice Miranda Ollstein, senior health care reporter for the platform POLITICO Pro, said while some GOP lawmakers have vowed not to touch Medicaid, it would be nearly impossible to cut the more than $1 trillion as proposed, without touching Medicaid. She noted Republicans hold a majority of seats in both the House and Senate, leaving Democrats without much leverage.
"It's important to know that the Republican majority in each chamber is pushing for policies that would result in major reductions to domestic spending, and Medicaid in particular," Ollstein stressed.
As the debate in Washington continues, New Mexico's Health Care Authority has put out a call for members for a new 15-member Beneficiary Advisory Council for New Mexico Medicaid, launching July 1. Applicants should be current or former Medicaid recipients, or parents, guardians or caregivers for Medicaid participants.
