New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange

Governor Susana Martinez has two PPACA-related bills on her desk. The legislature passed an New Mexico health insurance exchange bill that would create a nonprofit public corporation with the ability to selectively contract with health plans. Throughout the legislative session, the governor expressed concerns about the direction the bill was taking and questioned the need to enact the measure this year. The second bill would increase the state’s regulatory authority for the review of rates by permitting consideration of a carrier’s overall financial condition, executive compensation, surplus, efforts to control costs and improve quality, changes to benefits, and consumer comments collected over a 30-day period. Requests for rate increases would be capped at 15 percent and have to be explained in plain language on the Insurance Division’s website. After review by the Superintendent of Insurance, the Public Regulation Commission would have the authority to conduct a second review and return a rate request that it does not deem reasonable.

Tags: health insurance exchangenew mexico health insurancePPACA