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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Tsosie

DATE TYPED 2/17/05

HB

SHORT TITLE Frequency of Child Medicaid Eligibility

SB 486

ANALYST Weber

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$2,522.1 Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

REVENUE

Estimated Revenue

Subsequent

Years Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

$6,466.2 Recurring Federal Medicaid

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Human Services Department

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 486 (SB 486) amendsSection 27-2B-15 NMSA 1978 to mandate 12-month

continuous eligibility for children 18 and under who are receiving Medicaid benefits.

Significant Issues

The Human Services Department comments.

Senate Bill 486 -- Page 2

SB 486 proposes language that would provide for continuous eligibility to children eight-

een (18) years of age and younger who receive Medicaid benefits, and would provide for

continuous eligibility to children who qualify as an eligible member of a benefit group

under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

Six-month non-continuous eligibility was instituted July 1, 2004, to comply with recom-

mendations from House Bill 2 (HB 2) of the 2004 Legislative session to implement cost

containment initiatives within the Medicaid program.

The additional cost to the Department is estimated to be at least $2,522,100.00, and this

does not include reprogramming costs for the ISD2 eligibility system. Those costs are es-

timated at $100,000.

The change from six-month non-continuous eligibility to 12-month continuous eligibility

would likely lead to sharper enrollment growth in the Medicaid program. Cases that po-

tentially would become ineligible during the year would be allowed to remain open for up

to 12 months.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The estimated cost to the Medicaid programs for 12-month continuous eligibility for children 18

and under who are receiving Medicaid benefits is $8,988,200, of which $2,522,100 is General

Fund, for FY 06.

While certain income-based categories currently have a six-month non-continuous eligibility pe-

riod, those individuals with disabilities or who are elderly still have a 12-month eligibility period.

MW/lg