New programs will address needs for nutritious food during pregnancy, medical respite housing, and successful exits from incarceration
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Health Care Authority (HCA) announced today that the state has received federal approval for new Medicaid programs aimed at addressing individual health-related social needs.
“New Mexico has taken a bold step forward in its approach to addressing social needs that affect overall health,” said Kari Armijo, Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Health Care Authority. “Medicaid covers half the population in our state, so by addressing health-related social needs, like using food as medicine to control conditions like gestational diabetes or ensuring that services are coordinated and provided prior to individuals leaving jail or prison, we can affect real changes in overall health for New Mexicans.”
With a focus on expanding coverage to address health-related social needs and subject to legislative funding, New Mexico will be able to offer services that, to date, have not typically been covered by Medicaid, and use innovative service delivery systems that improve care, increase efficiency, and reduce costs.
“Medicaid has a unique ability to be the testing grounds for innovative public health ideas that effect positive results –both in terms of improved health outcomes and cost savings,” said Dana Flannery, Medicaid Director. “We are very excited to receive federal approval to begin this work with the goals of helping individuals avoid later, more costly health care services.”
Nutrition and Food as Medicine
With a planned start date of July 2025, food-insecure pregnant beneficiaries with nutrition-sensitive conditions, such as gestational diabetes, will be eligible to receive nutritious, prepared meals or healthy groceries to support their health needs and improve maternal health outcomes in New Mexico.
Older adults and adults with disabilities will be eligible for home-delivered meals to support their ability to remain in their homes and communities instead of an institutional facility.
Medical Recovery Housing
Recovering from a hospital stay, illness, or injury can be challenging. Without stable housing, it’s even harder. A new Medicaid program looks to provide short-term housing stability during recovery that may include monitoring of the individual’s condition, and other support. This will start with a small pilot program for medical respite.
Health Care for Individuals Leaving Incarceration
When people leave prison and jail, they often experience a gap in their ability to access health care. Backgrounds of trauma and poverty, mental illness, substance use disorder, and other acute health needs make access to health care a critical component of successful re-entry into the community.
Once implemented, the Justice Involved Reentry project will connect eligible adults and youth to health care services up to 90 days prior to their release from youth detention, prison, or jail. By providing health care services, New Mexico aims to reduce Emergency Department visits, overdose-related deaths, and inpatient hospitalizations among this population.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the state’s 5-year, 1115 Demonstration Waiver to operate its managed care program and demonstrate continued progress toward comprehensive, equitable health care for the nearly 1 million New Mexicans who rely on Medicaid for health care services.
With this federal approval, the state now begins an implementation planning process in order to launch these new programs in 2025.
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