Lovelace's chief medical officer says Medicaid cuts would increase health care provider shortage

If Congress cuts Medicaid funding, New Mexico’s maternal care desert would grow worse, small hospitals could close and the state’s health care provider shortage would be exacerbated, according to the chief medical officer for one of the largest health systems in the state.

The Republican-controlled Congress is working out a budget, which would likely include dramatic federal spending cuts, an increase to the federal deficit and continuation of 2017 tax cuts. The House and Senate have both passed budgets and need to reconcile them. The House budget resolution passed Tuesday calls for $2 trillion in spending cuts, up to $4.5 trillion in spending for tax cuts and a $4 trillion debt ceiling increase.

The resolution requires an $880 billion spending cut over the next decade from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid. Democrats and organizations like the American Hospital Association are concerned the bulk of that cut would come from Medicaid spending. Cutting Medicaid funding could affect health care broadly in New Mexico, where more than 780,000 people are enrolled in the program, said Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M.

“Right now, 73% of all women that are delivering in the state of New Mexico deliver and are covered by Medicaid. So, we’re talking about moms and babies, and we’re talking about their health and their future health,” Dr. Vesta Sandoval, chief medical officer for the Lovelace Health System, told reporters at a news conference hosted by Democratic Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández.

A third of New Mexico is already considered an obstetrician/gynecology desert, Sandoval said, and if more OB programs close at clinics, the problem will grow worse. The state also has a shortage of medical providers and is expected to be in the top three states with provider deficits, Sandoval said.

“If we cut Medicaid further, close facilities, you’re going to see even more of a deficit,” Sandoval said.

Urban hospitals are already at capacity, Sandoval said, and if Medicaid is cut, smaller hospitals may have to close, further overwhelming the larger urban hospitals and forcing patients to drive longer distances. While cuts to funding could impact a range of health programs, home health and nursing homes may especially be affected because they receive a lot of Medicaid funding, according to Sandoval.

“New Mexicans cannot afford (President Donald) Trump and the Republicans,” Leger Fernández said. “They are costing us lives.”

The news conference was nothing but “fearmongering to keep depriving New Mexicans of accountability and tax relief,” New Mexico Republican Party Chairwoman Amy Barela said in a statement.

“President Trump and Republicans are delivering for New Mexico — securing our borders, strengthening our economy, and protecting programs like Medicaid by making them more efficient,” Barela said.