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A MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT TO ANALYZE THE
MEDICAID RENEW PILOT PROJECT, TO PROVIDE DATA REGARDING CASE
CLOSURES AND REINSTATEMENTS, TO REFRAIN FROM CASE CLOSURES
WITHOUT A FINDING OF INELIGIBILITY, TO ADDRESS PROBLEMS
CAUSING MEDICAID-ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES TO LOSE
COVERAGE AND TO REPORT ITS FINDINGS TO THE LEGISLATURE.
WHEREAS, federal law and regulation require that
medicaid recipients renew their medicaid applications at
least once every twelve months; and
WHEREAS, federal law and regulation prohibit a state
from closing a medicaid case unless the state has made a
finding that the family is no longer eligible; and
WHEREAS, since May 2004, the numbers of women, children
and low-income families enrolled in medicaid have been highly
unstable and have decreased overall; and
WHEREAS, a study by the nonpartisan research company,
Mathematica policy research, incorporated, concluded that
seventy percent of children lose their medicaid coverage
every year; and
WHEREAS, continuity of care is important, especially for
children receiving preventive care and developmental
screenings; and
WHEREAS, in October 2007, the human services department
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instituted a statewide pilot project called the "medicaid
renew pilot project", intended to simplify the renewal
process for both the caseworkers and for women, children and
low-income families; and
WHEREAS, under the medicaid renew pilot project,
children, women and low-income families who are receiving
medicaid and are not receiving benefits from other programs
may now renew their medicaid coverage without submitting a
signed renewal form and instead may renew their medicaid by
telephone, electronic mail, facsimile or regular mail; and
WHEREAS, the human services department has reported an
increase in the number of children enrolled in medicaid since
the implementation of the medicaid renew pilot project; and
WHEREAS, the medicaid renew pilot project remains only a
pilot project and has not been permanently adopted by the
human services department, pending an analysis of the success
of the pilot project;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE
STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the human services department be
requested to conduct an analysis of the medicaid renew pilot
project that demonstrates how successful the pilot project
has been, including the number of women, children and
low-income family medicaid cases that are due to renew every
month, the number of renewal notices issued every month, the
dates that those renewal notices are issued, the number of
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families that respond every month, the dates that those
families respond, the number of renewal applications that are
processed every month and the number of cases that are denied
or renewed every month; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the human services
department be requested to provide data showing how many
women, children and low-income family medicaid cases are
closed every month and when, if ever, they are reinstated;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the human services
department be requested to refrain from terminating any
medicaid case unless and until the human services department
has determined one of the following to be true:
A. the participant is no longer financially
eligible;
B. the participant has received notification of
requirements for renewal and has failed to meet those
requirements within thirty days of notification; or
C. the participant can no longer be reached
through any reasonable measures, including telephone, reverse
postal look-up, re-mailing or checking other applicable state
data systems for a more recent address; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the human services
department be requested to resolve any problems it uncovers
concerning eligible medicaid recipients experiencing a lapse
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or an end to their medicaid coverage; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the human services
department be requested to report to the interim legislative
health and human services committee and the interim welfare
reform oversight committee and to the legislative finance
committee on its findings and any corrective action taken in
July 2008 and again in November 2008; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the secretary of human services and to the
governor.