New Mexico Human Services Department

  Let's Talk New Mexico 1/30 8a: State officials say 37,000 people will lose their eligibility for federal food assistance after the Trump administration starts enforcing new work requirements in April. This week, we'll discuss the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and how the new rules will change life for New Mexicans who depend on it.

Let's Talk New Mexico 7/18 8a: Thousands of New Mexicans with intellectual and developmental disabilities have waited years to get access to group homes, therapies and other services. We’ll discuss the plan Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced this month to get everyone off the waitlist for the developmental disability (DD) waiver program over the next six years. Have you or someone you know been on the waitlist? What would it take to get everyone the services they are eligible for in a timely fashion? Email us your thoughts at LetsTalk@kunm.org, or call in live during the show.

The state is looking to hire hundreds of new employees over the next two weeks. Agencies will accept walk-in applicants at “rapid hire” events in Carlsbad, Roswell, Farmington, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Las Cruces. 

New Mexico officials are hitting the road to talk about changes to Medicaid that will take effect in January. Starting this week, the New Mexico Human Services Department is holding a series of public events across the state to educate residents about upcoming changes to Centennial Care, the state's Medicaid program.

The Childrens Health Insurance Program covers over 9 million kids nationally, but the well of federal funds has been dry for months, and with strife in Congress, uncertainty lingers.

New Mexico is considering a plan to charge Medicaid patients copays as a way to save the state money. The proposal is drawing strong criticism from health care groups, poverty advocates and Medicaid recipients.

New Mexico allotted $940 million to pay for its share of Medicaid costs this year, but that’s still not enough to keep up with the growing number of people signing up for the program. The state Human Services Department is considering charging copays to people on Medicaid as part of a plan to cut costs.

More than three years after the health care expansion, 43 percent of New Mexico’s total population is signed up for Medicaid. But budgets are tight, and the Human Services Department is trying to figure out how to make it all work. Some of the  proposals presented at a public meeting in Albuquerque were contentious.

The New Mexico Human Services Department released its plan for the fate of Medicaid, and it includes massive cuts that could sever coverage for thousands.

The state spent almost half its 2015 child behavioral health dollars on expensive outpatient programs that have not been shown to be effective, according to a report presented to lawmakers Wednesday.

When someone addicted to heroin or prescription wants to quit, the first step is to find a detox center where they can safely go through withdrawals from the drug, but people in northern New Mexico who are trying to get help often can’t find it.