OPINION: Policymakers need to protect New Mexico's health system in wake of cuts

T hanks to the recent passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” over 15 million Americans are set to lose their health care in the coming months and years, and for New Mexicans, this will be an even more dangerous blow due to already exceptionally poor health care access. Even primary care physicians are scarce, and wait times for appointments can be months or more. This is simply not the case in other states, and will be devastating once providers are forced to shutter, making appointments even more difficult to come by.

Personally, I’m a new New Mexican. I recently left a job in health policy advocacy, based in Washington, D.C., to move closer to family here. I got into my career after I was diagnosed with bone cancer at age 25. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, I was able to get on my parents’ insurance and get the care needed to survive. I still depend on access to care, though, as treatment left me with a number of secondary conditions. For example, I require regular check-ins with an orthopedic oncologist, someone who specializes in what is considered a rare pediatric cancer. At the moment, there is one orthopedic oncologist in the state of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque, but he is not accepting new patients. This is not a provider I can go without seeing.

For one, I need regular imaging to make sure my cancer hasn’t returned, but more so, my knee prosthetic, put in when they removed my tumor, is now 14 years old, with a maximum expected lifespan of 15-20 years. Should my prosthetic fail, I will likely immediately lose the ability to walk. My only hope is that an out-of-state provider will accept my New Mexico Medicaid coverage (this is not common), and allow me to travel to receive services elsewhere.

This would be difficult in a few ways. First, it is a 13 hour round-trip drive to the closest out-of-state provider, which I would need to make for a set of X-rays and a few moments of poking my leg. Should I require a new knee, I will need months of rehabilitation and follow up, and won’t be able to afford a hotel out of state. And, again, we’re assuming they even take New Mexico Medicaid. Paying out of pocket is not an option — my first surgery cost more than my mother’s house.

After 14 years with close medical teams, it is terrifying to think I won’t be able to access life-saving care when I need it. I’ve lived all over the country — rural, urban, red states, blue states — and I’ve never had this much difficulty accessing providers. Despite the fact that, so far, I really like it here, it seems New Mexico is not a welcome place for people who have survived cancer, or live with chronic conditions.

Soon, up to 90,000 more New Mexicans will be experiencing the same health care access hardship. They may currently be privileged to have doctors they can count on, but their health coverage will be taken away, and care will no longer be accessible due to cost. For those who aren’t on Medicaid, hospitals will shutter and private insurance costs will go up, reducing access for everyone. To be sure, some politicians will say these “enhancements” are not cuts to Medicaid, at least not for those who “deserve” access to health care.

Media outlets may not be able to call it what it is, but I can — it is a lie, plain and simple. I’ve been doing this work for over a decade, as a patient and as a health policy expert and advocate. They are taking our health care away from us. You simply cannot take $1 trillion from Medicaid without cuts to benefits.

While the bill has passed, we still have time to advocate for smart state spending on health care under these cuts. It is crucial that our state policymakers know we will not allow ourselves or our families and neighbors to suffer for the benefit of the rich. We need to protect Medicaid, and we need to offer incentives to build out the state’s health care workforce. With our voices we can and must do better, because New Mexicans deserve better.

Mina Schultz is a health policy advocate who was diagnosed with bone cancer at 25.