{"id":610022,"date":"2018-08-04T07:00:05","date_gmt":"2018-08-04T13:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=610022"},"modified":"2018-08-03T05:31:21","modified_gmt":"2018-08-03T11:31:21","slug":"a-push-for-nm-to-lead-the-nation-in-health-care-with-medicaid-buy-in-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/08\/a-push-for-nm-to-lead-the-nation-in-health-care-with-medicaid-buy-in-option\/","title":{"rendered":"A push for NM to lead the nation in health care with Medicaid buy-in option"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_610025\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-610025\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/NMT4HC-with-AndySlavitt-and-RepBenRayLujan-771x625.jpg\" alt=\"Health care\" width=\"771\" height=\"625\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/NMT4HC-with-AndySlavitt-and-RepBenRayLujan-771x625.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/NMT4HC-with-AndySlavitt-and-RepBenRayLujan-336x272.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/NMT4HC-with-AndySlavitt-and-RepBenRayLujan-768x623.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/NMT4HC-with-AndySlavitt-and-RepBenRayLujan-1170x949.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/NMT4HC-with-AndySlavitt-and-RepBenRayLujan.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">New Mexico Political Report photo<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left to right, Andy Slavitt, former acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, supervising attorney for the health-care team at New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty Abuko Estrada, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Althea Yazzie, from McKinley County, said it was a slow build toward her support of Medicaid buy-in.<\/p>\n<p>But when her grandson was born premature and her son and his wife were stuck with an unexpectedly large bill, she started advocating for the option, which would allow people to pay a premium, like for private insurance, to buy into Medicaid or a Medicaid-like program.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpoliticalreport.com\/803222\/legislature-to-study-medicaid-buy-in-as-way-to-help-nm-insurance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a memorial<\/a>\u00a0authorizing a study into the viability of Medicaid buy-in for the state.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters say it would not only save money for those buying in, but also for the state and hospitals.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article comes from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpoliticalreport.com\/865898\/nm-looks-to-lead-the-nation-in-health-care-with-medicaid-buy-in-option\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Mexico Political Report<\/a>,\u00a0a nonprofit news organization\u00a0focused on promoting a greater public understanding of politics and policy in the state of New Mexico.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Yazzie and others gathered at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Albuquerque on Monday, the 53rd anniversary of when President Lyndon Johnson signed a bill creating Medicare and Medicaid, to discuss the option.<\/p>\n<p>The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty helped organize the event, but the organization\u2019s supervising attorney for health care, Abuko Estrada, said it was people like Yazzie who pushed the proposal forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it goes back to community here in New Mexico being so strong and having that understanding that no family should go without health coverage because they can\u2019t afford it,\u201d Estrada said. \u201cWe\u2019ve worked with families across the state to take that message to everyone and to really build upon that foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yazzie says friends and neighbors have encouraged her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople are just for us and they tell us to just fight for them. That\u2019s how we got this whole thing going,\u201d Yazzie said. \u201cWe went on the media, we went out talking to people, we got people to come in and support us.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>A leader in the space<\/h3>\n<p>Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, the Democratic congressman who represents the state\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, also attended the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Luj\u00e1n said Medicaid is a key way to expand access to health care that is affordable, accessible and high-quality.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would argue, in New Mexico where we have over 40 percent of New Mexicans who are benefiting from Medicaid, that we already have a large pool,\u201d he said. \u201cSo a buy-in program in New Mexico can build upon that success.\u201d It would be another choice for people to find coverage, he said, and the infrastructure is already in place.<\/p>\n<p>Andy Slavitt, a former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Barack Obama, agreed that New Mexico could lead the nation. About a dozen other states are considering Medicaid buy-in programs, he said, but New Mexico is furthest along in the process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think if New Mexico keeps its plan together and keeps working and gets everybody involved, it could be the first state in the nation and a shining light, much in the way Massachusetts was when Romneycare passed &#8212; it became a model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important for states to lead the way in the effort is important, Slavitt said, because states can\u2019t count on the federal government to lead the way anymore.<\/p>\n<h3>Something that can be done now<\/h3>\n<p>While Medicaid buy-in would expand health care options, there is another, more drastic solution: Medicare-for-all.<\/p>\n<p>This single-payer system would insure all Americans without co-pays or premiums. A study from a libertarian think tank estimated it would cost the federal government $32.6 trillion over ten years\u2014but\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy-and-politics\/2018\/7\/30\/17631240\/medicare-for-all-bernie-sanders-32-trillion-cost-voxcare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">overall health spending in the United States would actually be less<\/a>\u00a0than with the current system.<\/p>\n<p>But Medicare-for-all wouldn\u2019t happen quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think [Medicaid buy-in] is an option that can be achieved sooner while other options will continue to be debated, looking at the thresholds required to get those implemented as well,\u201d Luj\u00e1n said.<\/p>\n<p>He also noted that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who is sponsoring the Medicare-for-all bill, is also co-sponsor of the Senate version of the Medicaid buy-in bill.<\/p>\n<p>Luj\u00e1n takes a pragmatic look at the issue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe idea here is, how do we build the conversation and ultimately get this passed and implemented to provide more opportunities, affordable care, accessible care and high-quality care to people across New Mexico,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>For an increasing number of Democrats, Medicare-for-all is the ultimate goal, something Kimberly Espinoza, Luj\u00e1n\u2019s health advisor, acknowledged.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe congressman\u2019s obviously working very hard in his other role as a reality in a blue House, but there\u2019s still so many hurdles,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd while we\u2019re jumping those hurdles at the federal level, people are going without coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n is among those promoting the possibility. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":610025,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3326,117,107,116],"class_list":["post-610022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-ben-ray-lujan","tag-health-care","tag-roundhouse","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}