HB 122 Will Help New Mexicans Get Health Care They Need
After passing the House Taxation and Revenue Committee on Wednesday by a vote of 7-2, HB 122, a bill supported by New Mexico Together for Health Care to create a health care affordability fund to help more New Mexicans get the coverage they need, is headed to the House floor for a vote.
Tonya James, a mother from McKinley County, told the committee that a healthcare affordability fund was critical for families like hers.
“My husband works full time at KFC and I’m a stay-at-home mom,” said James. “We don’t make enough to pay for health insurance, like so many other families.”
Maria Burciaga, a Forward Together Action community leader from Sunland Park, said that lack of insurance has kept her from getting care in the past — including a time that she was unable to receive needed care at a local hospital because they required her, since she was uninsured, to pay $4,000 up front for the services.
Many supporters of the bill also said that the pandemic really showed how important it is to make healthcare more affordable.
“My mom and my brother got COVID,” said Althea Yazzie, a McKinley County advocate with Forward Together Action. “Now the bills are coming in from when they were flown out for treatment. I know families that are too scared even to get tested for COVID because of what treatment will cost.”
HB 122, sponsored by Rep. Debbie Armstrong,generates more than $110 million annually to invest in expanded and improved coverage for uninsured and under-insured New Mexicans.
According to a 2019 survey conducted by NMT4HC, 90 percent of New Mexicans want the state to take action to make healthcare more affordable. Further, 44 percent of the uninsured say they don’t have coverage because the premiums are too high. And, 39 percent of New Mexicans skipped or refused a medical test recommended by a doctor because they couldn’t afford it.
“Too many New Mexicans struggle to get the care they need,” said Nicolas Cordova, an attorney with the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty. “This health care affordability fund is an investment in the future health of our state.”
HB 122 is expected to be on the House floor calendar within a week.
