New federal rules will require many adults to document 80 hours a month of work, school, training or volunteer activity to keep Medicaid coverage

Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico

This article was originally published by Source New Mexico.

Upcoming work requirements contained in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” could mean that roughly one-tenth of all New Mexico Medicaid recipients lose their coverage, leaders of state agencies said in a virtual news conference Monday.

Beginning in January, the new law requires that some Medicaid recipients aged 19 to 64 work, volunteer or attend school or job training 80 hours a month to continue receiving coverage.

To raise awareness about the change, more than 230,000 New Mexicans will soon receive turquoise envelopes in the mail that lay out the new requirements, as well as connect Medicaid recipients to state resources designed to help them stay covered, state leaders said. 

Still, Health Care Authority officials predict that roughly 89,000 Medicaid recipients will lose coverage due to those requirements.

Department of Workforce Solutions Secretary Sarita Nair said the state offers an array of services to job seekers. She pointed to the 24 America’s Jobs centers across the state, as well as the New Mexico Jobs website, as resources available to those who risk losing coverage. 

“You don’t have to navigate that process alone. You don’t have to know exactly what career you’re looking for before you walk through our doors,” Nair said. “That’s what we’re here for — to help you figure that out and to provide you with the tools to succeed.”

More than 825,000 New Mexicans receive Medicaid in New Mexico, according to the Health Care Authority. 

Even if they met the work requirements, roughly 2,300 immigrants may lose eligibility due to changes in the law impacting some categories of immigrants. Moreover, the number of residents losing coverage could grow to more than 100,000 due to a new requirement that recipients affirm eligibility every six months versus annually.

Calculating the total number of Medicaid recipients projected to lose coverage is difficult, officials said, because the recipients may lose eligibility for two or more of the above reasons. 

Still, Health Care Authority Kari Armijo said that the agency is doing all it can to prevent those coverage reductions and urged recipients to open the turquoise envelopes and reach out to her office. She stressed that simply receiving the letter does not mean that a recipient lost coverage. 

“We do recognize, after having gone through all of those complicated changes, that these federal changes are really complex,” she said. “We’re not expecting our customers to figure this out on their own.”

Patrick Lohmann is a reporter for Source New Mexico.