Bipartisan support for a $2 billion Medicaid “trust fund?”

RGF has been a leading voice in support of both federal and state efforts to restrain and reform Medicaid spending. Of course, with New Mexico’s massive budget surpluses driven by oil and gas we have ALSO supported all manner of efforts to reform New Mexico’s unnecessarily high tax burden and return money to New Mexicans.

Sadly, New Mexico’s Senate just passed SB 88 (unanimously) which sets up a $2 billion “permanent fund” (in part) to keep New Mexico’s Medicaid program afloat if the Trump Administration cuts Medicaid funding. This is DEEPLY unfortunate.

Medicaid is in desperate need of reform. Ideally, the federal government would block grant Medicaid to the states. Whatever happens to Medicaid in the near future, the LAST thing that anyone, let alone Republicans in New Mexico, need to do is to create a fund that sucks up money and helps New Mexico maintain its bloated Medicaid rolls.