The Superintendent of Insurance has been responsible for managing the Health Security Plan design process since 2021. While his office did an excellent job last year, there has been no discernable action yet on this year’s priority topics, even with much more money allocated to the design process and with funding set aside to hire staff for this project.
It’s now September. It appears that the Superintendent has too many other obligations to devote the necessary effort to this.
The bottom line: A new board is needed to take over the design process.
It is time for the legislature to create a board of experts that will be able to explore and assess various options, with the help of consultants, and make recommendations to the legislature concerning the solutions and approaches that have the greatest benefit for New Mexicans and the highest chance of success.
Introducing legislation to create such a board will be proposed at the Legislative Health & Human Services Committee meeting on September 15. Scroll down for more information.
Register Now! Health Security Webinar, Sept. 13
Campaign member organization Retake Our Democracy will be holding a webinar on Health Security on Tuesday, September 13, 6:00-7:30 PM. This event will feature Campaign executive director Mary Feldblum and key legislative allies Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino and Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil.
For more information, visit Retake Our Democracy's Actions & Events page. To register, click here. You must register in order to attend.
Legislative Health & Human Services Committee Meeting, Sept. 15 in Gallup
The Campaign has been invited to present on the current status of the Health Security Plan design process to the interim Legislative Health and Human Services Committee at its three-day meeting in Gallup. Our executive director is now scheduled to speak at 11:30 AM on Thursday, September 15. The full agenda can be found here.
This is a crucial opportunity to make it clear to committee members why systemic health care reform is vital for the health of our residents and our state. Simply plugging the holes in our system is not going to solve the serious crisis we face. At this meeting, we can help the committee understand how important it is to continue the design process of our own New Mexico health plan, as well as correct some misinformation that is circulating about the design process being "just another study" and the plan itself being unworkable.
This is also a critical meeting for us because we are seeking the committee’s endorsement of 2023 legislation to create a board of experts that, with public input, will be authorized to continue putting together the key pieces of the Health Security Plan design jigsaw puzzle. With no progress being made on the design process by the Office of Superintendent of Insurance so far this year, getting this legislation passed will be vitally important.