Center on Law and Poverty Talking points on Centennial Care

The NM Human Service Department (HSD) is taking public comment at four public hearings.  Will you attend one or more to make your voice be heard?

The state needs to hear these messages:

1.                   While you listened to the public and eliminated most co-pays in your plan (thank you), it still contains some co-pays for when people go to an emergency room but are found not to have emergencies. These fees will discourage people from getting emergency care and penalize people who don’t have access to primary care doctors such as on the evenings or weekends, or in rural areas of the state.   Get rid of these co-pays too.

2.                   Your plan calls for stopping the retroactive coverage that covers medical bills from the 3 months before a person enrolls in Medicaid.  This coverage is very important to low-income people who shouldn’t have to choose between getting urgent medical care or going into debt and collections.  Keep it.

3.                   You are considering adopting 12 month “continuous eligibility” for adults who are enrolled in Medicaid so that they won’t have to worry about losing Medicaid if their employment changes during the year. You should adopt this – it provides important stability for families, especially temporary and contract workers, so they don’t have to keep reapplying for coverage