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Rising Health Costs a Bitter Pill for State

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 June 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Walter Rubel, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.

Jun. 6--SANTA FE -- Health care costs in New Mexico increased by 18 percent in the two years from 2002 to 2004, according to the preliminary results of a study being conducted by New Mexico State University Economics Professor Anthony V. Popp.

Popp told members of the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee on Monday that health-care expenses in the state rose by a total of $1.4 billion during the two years of his study. And that did not include uncompensated care to the indigent. He said the numbers released Monday were just preliminary, and that there are still some "holes" in the study. But he said the bottom line should be pretty close.

The study showed that the biggest increase in expenses was in the private sector, mostly through insurance programs. Federal costs remained flat, while state expenses climbed by $364 million. Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Peak, said expected cuts to the federal Medicaid budget will shift an even larger burden to the state.

Pollster Brian Sanderoff, president of Research and Polling, told lawmakers that their greatest health care challenge in the coming years will be dealing with an aging population. A U.S. Census Bureau projection last year predicted that New Mexico's elderly population would more than double in the next 25 years.

"We really have some tremendous issues to confront in the next 20 years," Sanderoff said. "I don't think it's the doom and gloom of the projection the Census Bureau is giving, but it's a real challenge."

The Census Bureau predicted that the percentage of New Mexico's population age 65 and older would climb from 11.7 percent in the year 2000 to 26.4 percent in 2030.

Sanderoff said that, while the projection for the total number of elderly residents may be correct, he thinks the overall population percentages are off because the Census Bureau is underestimating the number of younger people who will migrate to the state in the coming years.

"We need to infuse our population with young people," Sanderoff said. "If we don't do that, we're going to have a crisis in the state of New Mexico."

Another challenge for the state will be providing medical care for Native Americans who have moved off tribal lands and into the urban areas, Sanderoff said. He said the federal government has cut the budget for Indian Health Services.

As a result, some Native Americans are starting to think about health insurance for the first time, Sanderoff said. Others will put off treatment until a trip to the emergency room is needed.

In the border counties, the challenge will be keeping pace with the explosive growth, Sanderoff said. Los Lunas and Rio Rancho are the two fastest-growing cities since 1990, but they are followed, in order, by Sunland Park (70 percent growth), Deming (34 percent), Alamogordo (31 percent) and Las Cruces (28 percent).

"We're not keeping pace with a health care system to accommodate the people who are moving there, because it's happening so fast," Sanderoff said.

People unable to get the medical treatment they need in New Mexico are going to neighboring states instead, shifting health care dollars out of our state, Sanderoff said.

"Lubbock and El Paso are draining off just a ton of money from the state," said Rep. John Heaton, D-Carlsbad.

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To see more of the Las Cruces Sun-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lcsun-news.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Las Cruces Sun-News

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