Albuquerque Journal

Gov. Unveils Scaled-Down Health Proposal
By Winthrop Quigley, Journal Staff Writer

SANTA FE — With a nod to political reality, the Richardson administration on Wednesday unveiled a scaled-down health care financing proposal for the Legislature to consider during the special session beginning Aug. 15.
   
Human Services Secretary Pamela S. Hyde, in a briefing for interest groups ranging from insurance companies to policy advocates, said the Legislature has made it clear it won't support the universal coverage bills Gov. Bill Richardson offered during January's regular session, and the more modest proposal faces tough sledding.
   
"This is a huge political battle," Hyde said. "We need your help."
   
The administration's bills unveiled Wednesday would:
   
* Require all children through the age of 18 to have health care coverage from private or public sources. The bill contains no enforcement mechanism or penalty for parents who don't secure coverage for their children.
   
* Appropriate $58 million to expand existing programs to reach an estimated 50,000 children who qualify for publicly funded coverage but don't receive it. The additional spending would recur annually, Hyde said.
   
* Establish a new Health Care Benefits Administration to consolidate management of several existing public coverage programs, including state employee and public retiree insurance plans.
   
* Gradually limit premium increases insurance companies can charge small businesses from 20 percent today to 10 percent per year in five years.
   
* Require insurers to spend at least 85 percent of premiums on services and guarantee that anyone who needs insurance can get it regardless of health status.
   
* Establish privacy requirements for patients' electronic medical records.
   
Missing from the three-bill package are a number of provisions that were in January's version. Those bills, before they were heavily amended, required all New Mexicans to have health insurance and would have taxed businesses to create a fund that would have been used to help fund public coverage.
   
The January version would have established a health care authority with significant power to manage health care policy and spending. Legislators and the governor fought for much of the 30-day session over which branch of government would control the authority's membership and who would appoint its executive director.
   
Hyde said Richardson's new plan would allow the governor to appoint the administration's executive director to a four-year term. Then the Legislature would decide how future directors would be appointed.
   
Roxane Spruce Bly, incoming executive director of Health Action New Mexico, said the administration's executive director should be appointed by the administration's board, not by the governor. But Health Action is "excited about the proposal for coverage for all children" and is "receptive to continued dialogue with the governor and the Legislature."
   
Health Action New Mexico is an advocacy group for universal coverage and health policy reform.
   
New Mexico Voices for Children policy director Bill Jordan was "very pleased" the bills contain a serious attempt to cover all children and that money to pay for coverage is in the plan.
   
"We've been talking about this forever," he said.
   
The Association of Commerce and Industry worked to defeat the January package. ACI President Beverlee McClure said Wednesday the new version is "more aligned with ACI policy proposals." She said she is "impressed they've listened and responded as much as they can." ACI's health policy committee will study the plan before ACI takes a position, she said.
   
Presbyterian Healthcare Services CEO Jim Hinton said, "The Legislature has the tough task of balancing some important priorities and keeping them within budget. We think the governor's proposal to provide health coverage to all kids is a great first step on the path to universal coverage."
   
Dan Derksen, New Mexico Medical Society president, said the governor and his staff "have really listened to the concerns that have been raised."
   
He said the proposals "keep the physician-patient relationship at the center." The society will evaluate the bills before deciding what positions to take, Derksen added.