good afternoon everyone, this is a letter authored by the SW Womens Law Center asking for Advocates and organizations to sign on, by Monday 8/5/13. If you cannot get approval or do not see it in time to sign on I would ask that you make a statement in support of the effort either at the august 7 th meeting or is a statement/comment on the HIX website www.nmhix.com. I will be attending this meeting if you cannot make it I am willing to read any statement that your organization wants to give at the public comment portion of the meeting. Either email this blog or Erik Lujan at elujan78@gmail.com. please keep in mind that time for public comment is sometimes short
August 3, 2013
RE: Request for August 7, 2013 Exchange Board Meeting Agenda to Include Medicaid Coordination Discussion and Exchange Financial Sustainability.
Dear Exchange Board Members,
We are a group of organizations, many of whom have been deeply engaged in efforts to implement the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) in New Mexico for the past three years. Our goal is to ensure that ACA implementation in New Mexico maximizes the benefit for all New Mexicans, and, in particular, for our uninsured and underserved populations. We are writing to ask the Exchange Board to place two topics that are important to the successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act in New Mexico on its August 7th meeting agenda: (1) the efficient coordination of the Exchange’s outreach and enrollment efforts with the state’s Medicaid program; and (2) the projected enrollment needed to make the Exchange financially sustainable. New Mexico can receive additional federal funding to enhance the Exchange’s financial sustainability if we apply by August 15th, and we should not miss this critical opportunity to strengthen the Exchange.
A number of organizations and individuals have reminded the Exchange Board, both in public comment and via correspondence, of its legal obligation to engage in outreach and enrollment assistance that includes Medicaid. Not only is the Exchange legally obligated to provide enrollment assistance to Medicaid, it also makes good fiscal sense. Two separate outreach and assistance systems, one for the Exchange and one for Medicaid and CHIP, are impractical and duplicative. Federal “Section 1311” funds for In-Person-Assisters can be used for anyone who fills out the “single streamlined application” regardless of whether that person is eligible for the Exchange or Medicaid. A system that engages in outreach and helps people sign up for both the Exchange and Medicaid makes the best use of available dollars. Additionally, the Exchange will benefit in its future enrollment efforts by treating Medicaid enrollees as future Exchange customers. Accordingly, the group of organizations undersigned below requests that the Exchange discuss and adopt a policy at the August 7, 2013 Exchange Board meeting that ensures the Exchange will provide enrollment assistance to those who are eligible for Medicaid.
Furthermore, the Exchange must be financially sustainable by the beginning of 2017. As a result, the Exchange must find revenue sources to account for the Exchange’s operational costs and any current projected funding needs. It is not too early for the Exchange Board to discuss using its statutory authority to assess insurance plans to provide revenue for the Exchange. Therefore, we encourage the Exchange ensure its financial sustainability by creating strong goalposts for consumer enrollment in the Exchange, and by investing appropriately in funding to help all consumers enroll. We further urge the Exchange to monitor and report on these concrete enrollment goals. Investment in assistance to guarantee robust enrollment in the Exchange will help offset the need for the Exchange to seek funding from other sources.
In addition to the above, the undersigned groups request that the Exchange Board discuss specific strategies for making the Exchange financially sustainable that include applying for additional federal grant funding for the Exchange by the August 15, 2013 deadline. Supplementary federal funding supporting a strong investment in consumer assistance efforts will help guarantee robust Exchange enrollment. Similarly situated geographically large states with substantial rural populations, such as Colorado and Arkansas, have each invested approximately $17 million in their consumer assistance programs. Colorado’s Exchange eligible uninsured population is 323,000, making their state’s per capita investment enrollment assistance approximately $52 per uninsured person. The Arkansas Exchange eligible uninsured population is approximately 208,000, making the state’s per capita investment in enrollment assistance $82 per uninsured person. New Mexico has currently invested approximately $35 on enrollment assistance per uninsured person. New Mexico must invest more in its consumer assistance programs to ensure robust enrollment in the Exchange by the eligible uninsured to ensure that the Exchange will be financially sustainable.
Thank you for your consideration of these issues. If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact any of the undersigned organizations.
Sincerely,
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