Posted May 29, 2025
Every New Mexican deserves access to healthcare, dignity, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing their family will be cared for. But right now, that basic promise is under attack.
As a mom, an attorney, and a healthcare advocate, I work alongside families across New Mexico, in rural towns, Tribal communities, and urban neighborhoods, who rely on Medicaid as a lifeline. For far too many, it’s the only path to a doctor’s visit, a mental health appointment, or life-saving treatment.
We must speak up loudly and boldly to send a strong message: No one can afford to lose their healthcare coverage.
Now, Congress is considering a budget that would gut Medicaid and slash funding for the programs our communities rely on every single day. The so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” – recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives – would create deep, drastic, devastating cuts to Medicaid, harming seniors, people with disabilities, and children. It even proposes new burdensome “work requirements,” an old, failed policy that would create needless bureaucracy and strip people of care, not because they don’t work, but because they can’t keep up with confusing paperwork.
Let’s be clear about what this means in New Mexico:
Nearly 850,000 people, including almost 70% of our children, rely on Medicaid.
It covers cancer screenings, prenatal visits, prescriptions, and behavioral health — care that keeps families whole.
In rural and Tribal communities, it’s the backbone of our healthcare system, funding clinics, keeping hospitals open, and making sure providers can serve everyone who walks through the door.
If this budget passes, all of that is at risk. We’ve already seen more than 100,000 New Mexicans pushed off Medicaid in the past year. Many are still eligible, but are lost in the red tape of the “unwinding.” These new proposals would make things even worse.
It would mean newborns missing out on critical early checkups, parents being forced to choose between groceries and insulin, and people suffering and dying from preventable conditions.
And for what? To give more tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.
Let’s talk about these “work requirements.” Most people who can work, already do, especially in low-wage, seasonal, or caregiving roles. And those who aren’t working often face real barriers: disability, caregiving, lack of transportation, unstable housing. Studies show that about half of people subjected to these requirements lose coverage, not because they’re unwilling to work, but due to the paperwork burdens and red tape.
This isn’t about encouraging work. It’s about terminating people’s healthcare.
Together, we must reject this reckless and harmful legislation that would strip healthcare from millions of Americans, and our stories are the most powerful defense. We must speak up loudly and boldly to send a strong message: No one can afford to lose their healthcare coverage.
Have you or your family benefited from Medicaid? Now is the time to tell your story to protect it. Telling your story can stop harmful cuts before they become law, show what’s really at stake, and protect care for millions of families like yours.
Let’s protect Medicaid and protect each other. Let’s not just defend what we have, but demand more: a healthcare system that truly works for all of us.
Arika Sánchez is the healthcare director at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty. This commentary is republished from Source New Mexico under a Creative Commons license.
