Speak Out on Health Care at Legislative Meetings in Las Vegas & Taos

From the Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign:
Las Vegas: On Wednesday, July 18, the Interim Legislative Health and Human Services Committee will be meeting in Las Vegas at New Mexico Highlands University's Student Center. The focus of the agenda will be to discuss health care reform and the study that was recently completed by Mathematica. The executive director of the Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign, Mary Feldblum, has been asked to present (at 3:30 PM), as has Celia Ameline, the creator of Health Choices. The meeting begins at 1:00 PM, and there will be a public comment period from 5:45 to 7:00 PM. Come hear our executive director and let the committee hear your opinions!

Taos: On Thursday and Friday, July 19 and 20, the Interim Legislative Health and Human Services Committee will be meeting in Taos at the Taos Convention Center. Thursday's meeting begins at 10:30 AM and Friday's meeting begins at 9:00 AM. Again, there will be time for public comment. Public comment will take place Thursday from 5:20 to 7:00 PM and Friday from 3:00 to 3:30 PM. Please take advantage of the public comment periods to share your views with the committee.

It is critical that Health Security Campaign supporters speak out at these meetings in Las Vegas and Taos. You can check out the agenda for the July 18 Las Vegas meeting and the July 19 and 20 Taos meeting here (PDF).

Some Talking Points

• The Mathematica study clearly indicates that the Health Security Act is the only proposal that reduces health care costs and covers everyone.
• The results of the Mathematica study should not be ignored.
• This is the second time that a New Mexico study has concluded that putting all or almost all of our residents in one health risk pool saves money.
• The Health Security Act has had input from thousands of New Mexicans over the years. The Act is supported by 128 organizations and 25 counties and cities.
• We have a choice between two paths: to continue to invest in our broken private insurance system or to take a different road.
• Be sure to talk about why you support the Health Security Act.

Other Opportunities to Speak Up
We will let you know about other opportunities to let your voice be heard in the coming months. The Interim Health and Human Services Committee will be meeting in Zuni and Gallup in August, in Hobbs and Roswell in September, in Española and Santa Fe in October, and in Santa Fe in November. We'll let you know about specific dates, times, and venues as soon as the interim committee confirms them.

Just in case you haven't seen the results of the Mathematica study, we've included them below.

The Study Results
The following five models were analyzed by Mathematica, the company hired to perform the analysis.

• Model 1. Health Security Act, Version 1: Our plan, which sets up a cooperative to provide health insurance to almost all New Mexicans. This version assumes urban provider administrative savings.
• Model 2. Health Security Act, Version 2: This second version assumes no provider administrative savings.
• Model 3. Health Choices, Version 1: A health insurance marketing alliance that provides vouchers to all New Mexicans, paid for with taxpayer dollars.
• Model 4. Health Choices, Version 2: A version of the health insurance marketing alliance that allows employers who provide insurance to opt out.
• Model 5. Health Coverage Plan: Expansion of the current system, assuming greater enrollment in Medicaid and other public programs.

Click for a table (doc) of Mathematica's final numbers. Please note that these numbers exclude the over-65 (Medicare) population and the institutional population--populations that the Health Security Act would cover. The numbers also assume that under each model all New Mexicans are covered (a questionable assumption with all the models except the Health Security Act).

What these numbers mean: In 2007, only the Health Security Act costs less than the current system even when assuming no provider savings. The other models cost more than the current system.

In 2011, the Health Security Act version 1 saves $887 million (health expenditures are reduced by $887 million). Health Security version 2 saves $700 million. The Health Choices models cost $336 million and $383 million more than the current system. This amounts to over a $1 billion difference when you compare the cost of the Health Security models to the cost of the Health Choices models. (For example, Health Security version 1 costs $7,878 billion in 2001 while Health Choices version 1 costs $9,101 billion in that same year.)

In 2011, the Health Coverage model costs $70 million more than the current system. If you compare the difference in costs between the Health Security models and the Health Coverage model, Health Security version 1 amounts to almost $1 billion dollars in savings and Health Security version 2 amounts to $800 million. (For example, Health Security version 1 costs $7,878 billion in 2011 and Health Coverage costs $8,835 billion.)

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact Josette at 505-771-8763 or jhaddad@cableone.net.