Government health care coverage spikes in New Mexico

Anna George

Staff Writer

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The number of people receiving marketplace health insurance in New Mexico has risen by almost half in the last five months, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

While the number of people enrolling in 2014 was a little over 32,000, in the recent year, 52, 358 people have enrolled with 51 percent of the enrollees being new.

Enrollment occurred from Nov. 15, 2014 to February 15, 2015 for the 37 states that use HealthCare.gov to access marketplace health insurance.

Shelby Venson, an employee of the Center for Medicare in Washington D.C., said the increase in enrollment could be due to the several positive aspects of marketplace insurance. Venson said insurance from the marketplace is simpler, and faster.

“It’s easier to shop and compare plans in your area,” she said.

She said 80 percent of people receiving their insurance through HealthCare.gov get their insurance for $100 or less a month. In the first month customers are enrolled, they are finding help fitting their premium into their budget, she said.

While the number of people enrolled in New Mexico is rising, not all the people that apply are getting coverage. More than 79,000 people applied for marketplace insurance as of March 2015, according to the data taken by HHS, yet only 52,000 received coverage.

Leticia Perez at Clovis La Casa Family Health Center said coverage could be revoked from people unable to provide proof of identification or income, Perez said.

While unable to provide exact statistics, Perez said La Casa has received a very low number of people signing up for the insurance in Portales.

Betty Williamson, a resident of Roosevelt County, said she tried to get the marketplace insurance when it launched in 2013 and struggled for close to six hours before giving up.

Williamson also writes a weekly column for Clovis Media Inc.

“The website froze up frequently, was super slow and the whole experience was really frustrating,” Williamson said.

She said she lost all of her progress every time the website froze. Eventually, she just decided to get insured through a local agent because it was too annoying to go through the marketplace.

Beth Anthony, a part time pastor in Tatum said she had a very different experience. She was able to find an agent who helped her through the process free of charge and got her the most affordable coverage in under two hours throughout a couple of appointments.

“I now have the best healthcare insurance I have ever had,” Anthony said.