Commentary: With the first hearing for The Medicaid Buy-in Act scheduled for Friday, families from across the state came to the Capitol on Wednesday to tell their personal healthcare stories and to explain their support for Medicaid Buy-in.
“My family didn’t have health insurance,” said Richard Ranger from McKinley County. “Then we started getting medical bills and I knew we needed it. But when I applied for Medicaid, I found out we were making too much money to qualify. Medicaid Buy-in would really help people like me who are stuck in the middle without insurance.”
Ranger is not alone. Recent polling shows that 74 percent of New Mexicans—across party affiliations—support Medicaid Buy-in.
“If you don’t have insurance, you don’t exist,” said Maria Burciaga from Doña County. “Medicaid Buy-in would give more people the coverage they need to be able to see a doctor.”
Burciaga and Ranger are just two of the more than 240 New Mexicans who traveled to the Roundhouse Wednesday as part of Strong Families New Mexico’s Legislative Day—an annual event that allows families to talk with legislators about the real impacts that policy decisions have on their daily lives.
“Families should not have to choose between putting food on the table and getting healthcare,” said Adriann Barboa, Field Director of Strong Families New Mexico. “Medicaid Buy-in will ensure that families from McKinley County to Doña County have access to quality, affordable healthcare. Our families are here today to make sure legislators hear that message loud and clear.”
Medicaid Buy-in would allow certain New Mexicans to pay for the trusted health insurance coverage that Medicaid has provided families for more than 50 years. Specifically, those eligible for Medicaid Buy-in would include those not currently eligible for Medicaid, Medicare or the subsidies provided by the Affordable Care Act.
HB 416, sponsored by Rep. Debbie Armstrong and cosponsored by Speaker Brian Egolf and Rep. Nathan Small, will be heard Friday morning by the House Health and Human Services Committee. SB 405, the Senate companion bill sponsored by Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino with 11 senators cosponsoring, has been referred to the Senate Public Affairs Committee.
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NM Together for Healthcare is a statewide, multiracial coalition of families and community organizations working together to strengthen healthcare access in New Mexico, supported by Strong Families New Mexico, New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, Health Action New Mexico and United States of Care. The campaign’s website is http://nmtogether4health.org/ Follow the campaign on Facebook @NMTogether4Healthcare and Twitter @NMT4HC.