Auditor, high-risk insurance pool in showdown
Both sides refuse to budge in battle over financial records
SANTA FE — State Auditor Wayne Johnson doubled down Friday on his office’s position that New Mexico’s high-risk insurance pool is a state agency and, as such, should have to turn over its annual financial audits for approval.
The stance could set up a legal showdown with the insurance pool, whose contract attorney has insisted the pool does not meet the definition of a state agency and described it earlier this month as a “nonprofit entity made up of private business members.”
At stake in the dispute is whether Johnson, a Republican who was appointed last year by Gov. Susana Martinez, or any future state auditor has the authority to inspect the insurance pool’s finances. The state auditor can also order special reviews of government entities that fall under the State Audit Act.
In a Friday letter, Johnson told state Superintendent of Insurance John Franchini, the chairman of the pool’s board, that it’s “demonstrably incorrect” to argue that the pool is not a state agency.
He pointed out that the pool is subject to the state’s Open Meetings Act, along with other statutes, and that the fees it collects from insurance companies should be considered public funds because they are collected under the authority of New Mexico law.
Johnson also demanded that the insurance pool turn over its past audits to the state Auditor’s Office for posting on its website by no later than June 30.
The pool’s contract attorney, Laura Sanchez-Rivét of Albuquerque, said Friday that the auditor’s letter contained factual inaccuracies, though she did not elaborate.
“For now, the board is committed to transparency and effective administration for its clients, who are among the state’s most vulnerable residents and who desperately need the medical insurance coverage provided to them through the (pool),” Sanchez-Rivét told the Journal.
The high-risk insurance pool assists New Mexico residents who do not have insurance or have been quoted at higher rates than the pool’s rate. Its enrollment — currently about 2,400 people — has decreased significantly since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act.
The insurance pool did post its past financial audits dating back to 2007 on its website Friday, after the Journal ran a story on the legal dispute.
Meanwhile, the disagreement over the insurance pool’s status has a political backdrop.
Delta Consulting, a health care consulting company that Democratic gubernatorial nominee Michelle Lujan Grisham cofounded in 2008, has repeatedly landed contracts to help run the pool.
Lujan Grisham divested herself from Delta Consulting last year after announcing her run for governor and has said she played no role in the company’s day-to-day operations since being elected to Congress in 2012.
Johnson is running for election to a four-year term as auditor this year. He will face Democrat Brian Colón in the November general election.