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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's health exchange officials say they are considering how to pay for retooling the exchange's eligibility and enrollment system in the wake of a federal agency's denial of an application for $97 million in grant funding.
The health exchange learned in December that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had denied the exchange's application, the Albuquerque Journal (http://goo.gl/5glqPv ) reported.
"We didn't expect to get $97 million — but we didn't expect to get nothing," said J.R. Damron, chairman of the exchange's board.
The money primarily would go for technology upgrades to comply with CMS requirements for individual-insurance exchanges.
CMS spokesman Bob Moos said a committee awarded money based on scores given to grant applicants, and determined that New Mexico and Rhode Island were not "worthy of funds."
Moos didn't say how many states had requested the funding.
Amy Dowd, CEO of the New Mexico exchange, said there's no plan to request state funding or to increase the fees that the exchange charges insurers to cover the exchange's operational costs.
She also said the health exchange board is committed to moving ahead with its plan to run a state-based exchange, though doing so is not required by law.
A state-run exchange would mean more flexibility to customize services for individuals, she said.
The board is now considering whether to tap $48 million remaining from previously received federal grant funds, or to continue to be a hybrid system.
At present, the state operates the portion of the website for the small-business health insurance market, while it acts as a portal to the federal Healthcare.gov site for the individual marketplace.
"If we continue building our own local technology platform, we will have to reallocate significant funding away from outreach and other efforts in order to fund the continued technology development," Dowd said.
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