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

SPONSOR Wirth

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

HB 24

SHORT TITLE

EXPAND HEALTH INSURANCE ALLIANCE

COVERAGE

SB

ANALYST Weber

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Regulation Commission (PRC)

Human Services Department (HSD)

Department of Health (DH)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 24 proposes a technical amendment to the Health Insurance Alliance statute. The

technical amendment allows an employer to take up health insurance coverage for its employees

through both the Health Insurance Alliance and a state or federal agency offering health

insurance coverage based on the employees’ income.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

HSD and DOH contribute the following:

The effect of the bill is to assure that an employer offering the State Coverage Insurance (SCI)

Program, or some similar federal or state program, to its employees may also offer coverage

through the Health Insurance Alliance (HIA). The Insure New Mexico! initiative works with

employers to offer their employees an array of coverage from SCI, HIA or other appropriate state

House Bill 24 – Page 2

or quasi-state health insurance plans. This bill simply codifies that an employer may take up

health insurance for its employees from a federal and state income-tested plan as well as from the

HIA.

The Health Insurance Alliance (HIA) increases access to health insurance coverage for small

businesses, self-employed and qualified individuals. Currently, the HIA statute does not allow

co-existence with another employer- based health insurance plan. SCI is a program administered

by the state that allows employers to enroll low-income employees who are not currently

insured. Affordable employer-sponsored health plans currently available through HIA may still

not meet the needs of some low-income employees. Therefore, the Insure New Mexico! Council

recommended to expand the ability of the HIA to allow enrollment of SCI members to co-exist

in an employer group which purchases an HIA employer sponsored health plan.

MW/mt