Moments ago, the House Health and Human Services Committee gave a do-pass recommendation to HB 186, known as the Medicaid Forward Program. The vote was 6-4, D’s in favor, R’s opposed. In essence, the bill would allow nearly all New Mexicans to receive Medicaid health care coverage, a plan originally designed to help low-income citizens. Terri Cole, President and CEO of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce said, “This could be the budget buster of all time.”
The estimated cost of this expansion is $1.2 billion, which, theoretically, might be covered by a sliding scale of premiums. Any deficits might have to be bailed out by the general fund or a payroll tax on employers. The bill lacks specifics on how all this might work and delegates a lot of authority to the Health Care Agency to figure it out. Medicaid is already the second largest cost to the general fund behind only public education, consuming 30% of the budget. Stay tuned for more coverage in tonight’s Legislative RoundUp.