U.S Senator Martin Heinrich hosted a roundtable meeting in Albuquerque last week to discuss the future of Medicaid in New Mexico.
In attendance were doctors, nurses, and Medicaid recipients who stressed that President Trump's so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” could have a devastating effect on the 40% of New Mexicans who rely on Medicaid for healthcare. Senator Heinrich addressed some of the reasons why he opposes this legislation.
“None of these people are not going to need healthcare just because they don’t have Medicaid. They will get healthcare in a very different setting, they’ll get it in the emergency room. Emergency room and emergency department lines will get longer, emergency medicine is dramatically more expensive, so it's not like any of this is actually efficient for saving money.”
New Mexico is the most Medicaid-reliant state in the nation. Heinrich alleges that over 90,000 New Mexicans could lose their Medicaid coverage should the bill pass.
Dr. Damara Kaplan has been a practicing urologist for 25 years. She says patient outcomes will be worse without access to Medicaid.
“I take care of multiple patients with cancer and certainly younger patients with cancer, and they are concerned that if they lose their Medicaid funding, they're going to lose their cancer treatments and cancer can be quite expensive to take care of.”
We also heard from Kelly Naktewa, an early childhood educator, a single mother of two, and Medicaid recipient.
“I suffered a miscarriage two weeks ago. I was so fortunate that Medicaid was able to cover everything: The CCI, my medication, they were able to help me having to stay in the hospital and take time off work”
The proposed budget bill would install new requirements for childless adults without disabilities and adults with dependents over 14. To qualify for Medicaid, they would be required to work at least 80 hours per month beginning December 2026, according to CNBC.
The Senate must vote on the proposal before July 4th. If it passes, the bill will return to the House for more deliberation.