New Mexico Dems react
Democrats say analysis shows GOP plan would be harmful to our state
WASHINGTON — Democratic members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation said the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Republican health care bill showed that it would be harmful to New Mexico, which has a high rate of low-income and uninsured residents.
Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said his staff projects that all New Mexicans who gained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion could lose their insurance under the Republican plan. New Mexico’s enrollment in Medicaid, a joint federal-state health insurance program for people with low incomes, has been brisk, with nearly 260,000 New Mexicans joining the rolls under President Barack Obama’s expanded Medicaid eligibility terms.
In all, more than 888,000 New Mexicans — or nearly half the state’s population — were enrolled as of the start of December, according to the state Human Services Department.
“My biggest concern is how this bill would hurt New Mexico families and our economy, particularly working families who qualify for Medicaid because it was expanded under Obamacare,” Udall said. “The Republican bill resorts to hocuspocus when it comes to these families, claiming to provide care, but actually slashing an estimated $880 billion over the next 10 years, and cutting Medicaid for an estimated 14 million people by 2026, including the millions of people whose eligibility fluctuates from year to year.”
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., also cast the Republican health care proposal and the related Congressional Budget Office analysis in bleak terms.
“The Republican plan would mean a schoolteacher pays more for their health care so that a hedge fund manager can get a six-figure tax break,” Heinrich said. “That’s unconscionable.”
Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., said, “The impact of lost Medicaid funding will be a disaster in New Mexico, where more than 900,000 people rely on Medicaid for their health care. Thousands of New Mexicans, including the poorest and sickest people, will return to emergency rooms for basic care, costing taxpayers more money and doing nothing to actually treat chronic illnesses.”
And Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., said, “At the hands of congressional Republicans, states will be forced to increase taxes on their people, ration care, or drop people from their care.”
Keeley Christensen, a spokeswoman for Rep. Steve Pearce, the delegation’s only Republican, said any repeal of Obamacare “must protect and improve New Mexican families’ access to care and increase affordability for all.” She said the budget office report “leaves questions about the plan’s ability to improve access, while reducing prices for New Mexican families.”