U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich hosted a roundtable discussion Friday about the potential ramifications in New Mexico of what鈥檚 known as the 鈥渓鈥� 鈥� the proposed federal budget. The conversation centered on cuts to Medicaid, which covers about 40% of residents.
Senator Heinrich said moderate estimates indicate about 96,000 people in New Mexico could lose their Medicaid coverage, and that the state will lose $4 billion annually over the next five years. That represents almost 40% of the state's general fund budget.
鈥淵ou couldn't design a budget reconciliation package that would be worse for the state of New Mexico than what we're going to vote on,鈥� he said.
The roundtable included about a dozen health industry leaders, experts and providers from around the state.
Cheryl Brubaker, senior director of nursing services for Albuquerque Public Schools , said the majority of APS students have some sort of health issue, and that most nurses are paid through Medicaid. Cuts would mean losing about half of all school nurses, and students with health issues, like asthma, would have to get help from other staff members.
鈥淩elying on people that are not trained to take care of these conditions can create more emergencies, more problems,鈥� She said.
Brubaker鈥檚 own adult son will also be affected. He鈥檚 disabled and lives with her because of multiple health issues.
鈥淗e has Medicaid, and without it, he won't survive. I cannot pick up his costs, and he's not eligible to be on my employer's insurance,鈥� she said.
Troy Clark, president of the New Mexico Hospital Association said the biggest hit will be in rural areas, where hospitals are already struggling to make ends meet. But, he said those effects will reverberate out and increase the load on hospitals in urban areas, most of which are already operating over capacity.
鈥淚f we lose providers in Las Cruces, Santa Fe will feel the effect just like a spider web, no matter where you touch it, the whole thing is going to shake,鈥� Clark said.
Clark added that cuts to Medicaid could threaten the , which relies heavily on federal funds to help bring money to struggling hospitals. He said if those funds dry up, six to eight hospitals could close within 12-18 months.
鈥淎nd I don't mean to be shocking, this isn't to scare everyone,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it's reality.鈥�
Heinrich said he hopes sharing the reality of Medicaid cuts will be enough to move some of his colleagues across the aisle to compromise.
鈥淚 think the more of those conversations we can have, the better the chance that we're either going to significantly change this, or down the road, we're going to be able to overturn it,鈥� he said.
The 鈥淏ig Beautiful Bill鈥� is currently working its way through the Senate, and, if passed, will head back to the House to approve any changes.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
