In the Media
Commentary
by Mary Feldblum
Corrales Comment, Apr. 23, 2022
“So much focus on health care centers around access issues. While it is very important to provide opportunities for New Mexicans to receive health coverage—either through public or private programs—there is another issue that must be addressed: the wasteful, costly and administratively complex pricing of health care services.”
Expanded Healthcare Coverage for New Mexicans Takes Another Step Forward
By Jered Ebenreck
KUNM, Apr. 21, 2022
“The state is set to do more research into ensuring broader healthcare coverage in New Mexico. The state approved nearly $800,000 in the recent legislative session to study how a proposed law would change healthcare coverage and costs. Officials must now prioritize which areas to research.”
Conversation with Mary Feldblum, Executive Director of the Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign
Retake Our Democracy radio show on KSFR, Oct. 2, 2021
From host Paul Gibson: “We outlined precisely what the Health Security Act is and, importantly, what it isn’t. We also discussed the most impressive Planning and Design process that is being co-lead by the Superintendent of Insurance and bill sponsors, Rep. Debbie Armstrong and Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino. Impressive to say the least.”
Want More NM Health Care Providers? Improve the System
Albuquerque Journal, Mar. 10, 2021
“Opponents argue that the Health Security Plan would drive providers to flee the state. But this data suggests something very different: that many badly needed primary care providers and subspecialists would be drawn to practice here if we were to achieve universal health coverage via this route.”
This guest opinion was also published in the Los Alamos Reporter, the Las Cruces Bulletin, and the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Legislature: Universal Health Care Planning Board Passes House Committee
Los Alamos Reporter, Feb. 17, 2021
“Legislation taking the first step toward providing universal health care specific to New Mexico passed the House Health and Human Services Committee today.”
Includes great quotes from HB 203 sponsors Reps. Deborah Armstrong, Tara Lujan, and Patricia Roybal Caballero!
This article was also published in the Grant County Beat.
Paul Gibson of Retake Our Democracy interviews Mary Feldblum, executive director of the Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign, about HB 203, the Health Security Planning and Design Board Act. KSFR radio, Feb. 12, 2021.
Watch now by clicking on the arrow in the middle of the image below.
This Plan Insures New Mexicans and Saves Money? I'm In.
By Peter Goodman
Las Cruces Sun-News, Feb. 7, 2021
“A friend says, ‘It’s too big for New Mexico.’ But it isn’t. As mentioned, we don’t move forward unless the detailed design satisfies both the Legislature and the governor. That’s a limited investment for a possibly huge payoff. Meanwhile, millionaire CEOs of insurance companies get richer off our timidity.”
A Major Step Forward for Universal Healthcare Reform
By Ester Griego
The Paper. [Albuquerque], Feb. 1, 2021
“Now the time has come to roll up our sleeves and create the critical design elements that must be in place prior to the start-up of the Plan. The design process will require lots of public input, so your involvement is very important. The legislation that is being introduced in 2021 specifies how this process will be accomplished.”
Health Groups Urge Lawmakers to Vote for Health Security Bill
Las Cruces Sun-News, Jan. 31, 2021
An open letter: 9 New Mexico health care provider organizations ask New Mexico legislators to support the 2021 Heath Security bill. Signers:
NM Public Health Association
NM Pediatric Society
NM Nurse Practitioner Council
NM Society for Acupuncture and Asian Medicine
Psychiatric Medical Association of NM
NM Pharmacists Association
The Committee of Interns and Residents, UNM
NM Podiatric Medical Association
NM Counseling Association
This letter was also published in the Albuquerque Journal, the Gallup Independent, and the Los Alamos Reporter.
Interview on Cafecito con Colón
Jan. 16, 2021
Campaign education and outreach coordinator Dana Millen speaks about Health Security with New Mexico state auditor Brian Colón on his Cafecito con Colón show.
Click on the image to play the video.
How Affordable Health Care Can Become a Reality in New Mexico
By Véronique De Jaegher
Sierra County Sun, Jan. 15, 2021
“My extended family is fortunate. All of its members have quality health care at a reasonable cost, with very low copays and no deductibles. None of them can ever be bankrupted by medical bills. I am the exception. That is because they all live in Belgium, where I was born and grew up . . .”
Health Security Discussion Draws Large Audience During LWV Virtual Event
By Maire O’Neill
Los Alamos Reporter, Jan. 4, 2021
“The HSP [Health Security Plan] in my mind would be a way to help all of our state improve healthcare through better access and much more efficient expenditure with higher quality.” – Dr. Rick Madden
New Stab at Statewide Public Health Insurance Could Be Do-able, Consultant Says
By Sherry Robinson
Carlsbad Current Argus, Sept. 21, 2020
“Maybe the Health Security Act doesn’t have all the answers just yet, but we’ve got to start somewhere.”
Also published in the Alamogordo Daily News and the Ruidoso News.
Examining Cost Projections: Universal Health Coverage for New Mexico
By Mary Feldblum
KRWG Public Media, Sept. 4, 2020
Also published in the Santa Fe New Mexican (as “Investing in Health Security Creates a Secure Future”), the Gallup Independent (as “The Financial Impact of the NM Health Security Plan: Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full?”) and the Silver City Daily Press.
Letter to the Editor: Health Security for All New Mexico Residents
Gallup Sun, Aug. 14, 2020
“Never has [the Health Security Act] been more needed - socially, economically, and morally.”
Report on "Health Security for New Mexicans"
Corrales Comment, Aug. 8, 2020
“With a financial impact analysis in hand, New Mexico legislators may be prepared to make a decision on a long-proposed near-universal health care program during their 2021 session. The Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign, led by Corrales’ Mary Feldblum, responded last month to a report by three consultants tasked to analyze cost-benefits inherent in the plan that would provide health care insurance equivalent to that enjoyed by state employees.”
On July 4, the Campaign's executive director, Mary Feldblum, was interviewed by Paul Gibson of Campaign member organization Retake Our Democracy. Watch the whole interview or listen to the podcast.
Just a few days later, Mary Feldblum, Tyler Taylor, MD (Health Security board member), and Shelley Mann-Lev (NM Public Health Association) were panel guests for Retake Our Democracy's webinar on Health Security. Watch the recording here.
Letter to the Editor: Healthcare Should Be About Health
Desert Exposure, July 2020, p. 4
“After reading Davena Norris’s letter in the June edition of D.E., I was inspired to write this letter of support for the NM Health Security Act from a small-business point of view. My husband and I recently retired from our electrical contracting company. . . . We were paying for a dizzying array of insurance policies and programs with healthcare components, and at one point we decided to make a list of everything. The total number of policies came to 14.”
Opinion: New Mexico Needs a Better Healthcare System
By Davena Norris
Las Cruces Bulletin, May 29, 2020, pp. 36-37
“How do we create a more effective and just health care system?
New Mexico has been working on its own homegrown solution for more than two decades.”
Study: Pandemic Job Losses Will Push At Least 102,000 New Mexicans off Health Insurance
By Molly Montgomery
Rio Grande Sun, May 22, 2020
“Between the middle of March and the end of April, over 120,000 New Mexicans filed for unemployment. Along with their jobs, thousands have presumably lost their health insurance that is often tied to their employers. . . .
Some feel that a more robust system needs to be in place at the state level to provide all residents of New Mexico with comprehensive, affordable health insurance, regardless of whether they have a job.”
We Need Health Security
By Davena Norris, PharmD, PhC, BCPS
Los Alamos Reporter, May 18, 2020
“As a hospital pharmacist, I am seeing what the COVID-19 pandemic reveals: the unacceptable weaknesses in our health care system . . .”
Also published in the Los Alamos Daily Post (as “Pandemic Reveals We Need Health Security”), Silver City Daily Press, and Desert Exposure (p. 4).
Group Supports Universal Health Access
Letter to the Editor
Rio Grande Sun, May 15, 2020
“A priority area of the New Mexico Public Health Association is Universal Access to Health Care . . . As such, the Association supports and endorses the proposed New Mexico Health Security Act, which would ensure all New Mexicans have comprehensive health care coverage.”
It’s Time for Our Own Health Plan in New Mexico
By Dana Schultz Millen and Troy Weeldreyer
Las Cruces Sun-News, May 10, 2020
Covid-19 Exposes Need for Health Security in NM
By Dana Schultz Millen, PhD, MPH, and Troy Weeldreyer, MPH
Retake Our Democracy, May 5, 2020
A Healthcare System in Crisis—and New Mexico’s Homegrown Solution
By Donna Dowell, CFNP
The New Mexico Nurse, Apr. 2020, p. 12
Heath Security for New Mexicans Campaign
By Joyce Powers, MSN, FNP-BC
NMNPC [New Mexico Nurse Practitioner Council] News, Mar. 2020, p. 9
Nurse practitioner Joyce Powers reports on a daylong conference for health care providers held by the Campaign in fall 2019.
Health Security Act Economic Impact Studied
Corrales Comment, Jan. 11, 2020
“The Corrales-based Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign received national attention last month when the Associated Press reported on economic analysis for state government’s proposed shift to universal health care . . .”
New Mexico Looks Into Universal Health Insurance
By Morgan Lee / Associated Press
Albuquerque Journal, Dec. 5, 2019
“SANTA FE – New Mexico’s Democratic-led Legislature is embarking on a financial study of how it might provide direct access to health care to almost every resident in the state after more than a decade of weighing options for universal medical insurance . . .”
The New Mexico Health Security Plan: Ensuring Access to Social-Emotional Supports
By Mitchell Rekow, West Mesa High School
Teacher’s Voice, Nov. 7, 2019, p. 6
Special education teacher Mitch Rekow writes about how Health Security could help students and their families get the social-emotional care they need.
George Carr, Gayle Simmons, and Carolyn Smith at KURU.
Three Perspectives on Health Security (radio show)
KURU 89.1 FM (Silver City), Nov. 1, 2019
Host George Carr discusses the Health Security Plan with Tyler Taylor, MD, and Silver City residents Carolyn Smith and Gayle Simmons.
Issues & Answers: NM Healthcare
KRWG Public Media (Las Cruces), Feb. 21, 2019
Fred Martino hosts a panel of experts to discuss efforts to improve healthcare in New Mexico, including the Health Security Plan and a Medicaid buy-in plan. Pharmacist Davena Norris talks about Health Security.
Health Security Act Would Heal Access-to-Care Woes
By Tyler Taylor, MD, and signed by 21 other physicians
Albuquerque Journal, Mar. 10, 2019
“The recent series in the Journal fleshed out the growing problems relating to poor access to health care in New Mexico. All but one county in the state is short of providers, and waiting times for appointments can be a month or more. It is time to embark on a broad systemic change to address this crisis and restore the critically important physician-patient relationship. . . .”
New Mexico Health Insurance Cooperative: What If?
By Donna Murray
Sandoval Signpost, Mar. 2019
Health Security Act Passes Key Committee
By Carol A. Clark
Los Alamos Daily Post, Feb. 9, 2019
Health Care, Universally
With Affordable Care Act in limbo, lawmakers offer bill to give New Mexico its own system
By Leah Cantor
Santa Fe Reporter, Feb. 6, 2019
Wake Up! The Health Care Dream: For Equitable, Affordable, Comprehensive Health Coverage for New Mexicans
By Kathleen Mezoff, MD, & John Mezoff, MD
Gallup Journey, Feb. 1, 2019
Let's Study Healthcare Plan to See If It Will Work
By Walter Rubel
Las Cruces Sun-News, Jan. 20, 2019
Health Security Can Happen
By August March
Alibi, Jan. 17, 2019