NMHSD News:SANTA FE ― The New Mexico Human Services Department announced that the number of New Mexicans without health insurance coverage dropped by nearly 25 percent last year. Since Gov. Susana Martinez took office in 2011, New Mexico’s uninsured rate has plummeted by nearly half.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual “Health Insurance Coverage in the United States” report, the uninsured rate in New Mexico dropped from 14.5 percent in 2014 to 10.9 percent in 2015.
“We’ve expanded and reformed Medicaid to make it more patient-centered and provide basic health care for those who need it most,” Martinez said. “As a result, we’re growing the health care safety net to help more New Mexicans than ever before access the high-quality health care they need and deserve.”
The report found the number of New Mexicans without health insurance decreased by 24.8 percent in the last year, and by 49 percent since Martinez took office in 2011 when the uninsured rate was 21.4 percent. At that time, more than one in five New Mexicans lacked health insurance coverage. Today, that figure stands at about one in nine. Additionally, New Mexico’s 7.7 point drop in the uninsured rate since 2013 was the fourth largest in the nation, after only California, Kentucky and West Virginia.
“Through Governor Martinez’s leadership, we’re continuing to help more New Mexicans get the health care their families need,” Human Services Department Secretary Brent Earnest said. “By reforming and expanding Medicaid through Centennial Care, more than 200,000 New Mexicans now have better access to health care.”
Centennial Care, the state’s Medicaid managed care program, has been improving the delivery system in New Mexico with its focus on integrated care, including robust care coordination, and moving toward paying providers for achieving improved quality and better health outcomes for members.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s report can be found here.
