‘Every single’ Medicaid recipient must renew coverage

Roughly 107,000 New Mexicans are expected to lose Medicaid coverage due to changes in income alone; about 32,000 have already been dropped from coverage since May 1.

“Every single person on Medicaid will have to be redetermined,” said Alex Sanchez, communications director with BeWellNM. “The [COVID-19] public health emergency has ended. There had been automatic redeterminations during that time, of Medicaid recipients, and an expanded set of qualifications.”

Same goes for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, Sanchez noted. Both SNAP and Medicaid recipients can check on their renewal status by signing in at yes.state. nm.us and clicking on Renew My Benefits. Those without access to a computer or internet may call 1-800-283-4465.

But a special enrollment period is open that allows New Mexicans who have lost or no longer qualify for Medicaid to opt into affordable Obamacare plans.

BeWellNM — New Mexico’s insurance marketplace and sole provider of health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act — is proactively introducing Medicaid recipients to other, often affordable health insurance options. They’ve even got $5 million to spend on outreach in local communities and are seeking requests for proposals from community groups.

Medicaid recipients should be on the lookout for a turquoise-colored envelope with renewal information in it, and/or text messages from the New Mexico Human Services Department, Sanchez said.

“HSD has a year, basically, to do redeterminations,” she said. “They really are trying to do the bulk of it upfront in April, May, June. That’s when we expect to see heavy loads of cases being closed out and determined. That number is really going to grow over the summer.”

Since many New Mexicans moved or changed phone numbers during the pandemic, Human Services has a web portal in which Medicaid recipients — even those who haven’t moved or changed addresses — may update their contact information and get their renewal process started: renew. hsd.nm.gov. The portal communicates with the Health Insurance Exchange in order to connect those who no longer qualify for Medicaid with alternative health insurance.

“A lot of things have changed in the past three years,” Sanchez said. “So, you may have old contact information, and we’ve been trying to get ahold of you, or you know, your income level is now above the qualifications for Medicaid. And if you fill that out, it’s going to pre-populate an application with us if you’re no longer eligible for Medicaid. It’s going to make sure we have the right information to contact you.”

During the ongoing special enrollment period, folks who may have lost their Medicaid insurance but only found out later can retroactively apply — for free — their new health insurance to any emergency healthcare costs, regular doctor visits or prescriptions, for example, that were incurred during the same month. And the Affordable Care Act has become increasingly affordable, according to Sanchez.

“Fifty percent of our customers are receiving insurance for $50 or less a month,” she said. “Some customers qualify for $0 plans, even. So it’s really worth it.”