OPINION: Government is turning a blind eye to real people

Great news came out of the recent federal budget bill. Billionaires can now depreciate 100% of their private jets. It’s about time! For the rest of us, it’s a mixed bag. But one thing is for sure, the poorest who depend on Medicaid are in the crosshairs and will not fare well.

Our state’s dependence on the federal government is well-documented. One of those categories affecting the neediest New Mexicans is our dependence on Medicaid. Following a state legislative session where politicians spent like drunk sailors in port, they’ll be back at their collective spreadsheet trying to figure out how to plug a huge hole created by the federal government’s cuts to the program.

New Mexico’s Health Care Authority data says our state receives around $9 billion annually in federal government Medicaid reimbursements. Following the passage of the recent budget bill, that amount will decrease by $2.8 billion. That is about 30% of New Mexico’s most recent record $10.8 billion fiscal year 2026 budget.

About 849,000 New Mexicans depend on Medicaid. That’s 38% of the population. The federal cuts will make about 90,000 people ineligible for Medicaid. This equates to less preventative care and an increase in emergency room use for things usually treated by a doctor.

The authority estimates six to eight rural hospitals will close over the next 18 to 24 months. That’s huge in a state already considered a health care desert.

Española’s Presbyterian Hospital Chief Executive Brenda Romero said she is working to address the upcoming cuts before they affect her clients. The hospital’s budget is driven by federal funding. About 60% of the hospital’s budget comes from Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements. She said 35% of the hospital’s patients are Medicaid funded.

State legislators created a fund for fiscal year 2024 that would supplement hospitals’ losses on Medicaid billing. The state funded the Health Care Delivery and Access Act with $321 million. Another $241 was added in fiscal year 2025 and $230 million is earmarked for 2026. This was established to help hospitals that lose money on Medicaid patients. That’s every hospital. This fund is supplemented by hospitals paying into the fund based on their billings and payments received. This won’t fill the huge hole created by the current federal budget.

Health Authority data reveals 47% of Rio Arriba County residents are registered for Medicaid. That is the population Romero’s hospital serves. It’s the only hospital serving Rio Arriba County and parts of south Taos County and northern Santa Fe County.

Romero said she didn’t know what kind of hit her hospital would take. She’s probably also waiting for the glacially moving state lawmakers to take action on the state’s budget.

“We’re monitoring (the state) but we’re not sure, nothing has happened yet,” she said. “Behavioral health issues won’t get dropped. Illness of addiction won’t get cut ether. And it doesn’t look like kids (care) will get cut.”

Romero also had data stating most Rio Arribans on Medicaid work 20 hours or more a week, volunteer or go to school.

Of course when you don’t have insurance, you don’t go to the doctor. Then you wait until you’re so sick you’re an emergency room patient. Romero is planning for that too. “We work hard to not deny care,” she said.

To that end, she said they’re increasing beds and staff for in-patient and more in the emergency room. She’s changing space to move “less sick” patients out of the ER. She hopes to have that plan in place by October.

The numbers are alarming. They represent real people. And when we say one person isn’t covered by Medicaid, that person’s inability to work or function means other people (family) are directly affected.

We’re the richest country in the world with so much disposable income we’re jamming the airports while traveling at record numbers and creating an army of drivers by bombarding Amazon with our purchases of useless toys sold to us on our phones and televisions.

But we can’t provide health care for everyone and the one entity (the government) that should be addressing the problem is trying hard to turn a blind eye to it. I’m not an advocate of socialized medicine and believe if you’re getting a government hand-out of any kind you should be working toward carrying your own weight. Some folks can’t and they need to be protected.

Cutting people from basic health care is something you’d expect from an authoritarian regime, not a democratic government of the people and for the people.