New Mexico reconsiders subsidies to high-risk insurance pool

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The administration of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is seeking to shift the state's financial obligations for a group of 2,700 people with serious and expensive medical conditions onto the private health insurance market. Legislation drafted by the administration in response to a state budget crisis would reduce tax credits and other subsidies that help underwrite New Mexico's high-risk medical insurance pool for the chronically ill. The reforms would usher more people out of the pool and onto federally subsidized policies through the state health exchange. The Republican-sponsored bill is scheduled for discussion by lawmakers Friday in committee. State government stands to save tens of millions of dollars, but a top insurance regulator says the changes are likely to drive up private-market insurance premiums by hundreds of dollars a year.