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Source: The Santa Fe New MexicanNov.儲存倉 08--State lawmakers want to know who is benefiting from the millions of dollars in federal taxpayer funds committed to the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange.Members of the Legislature's interim Health and Human Services Committee voted Thursday to require the exchange's governing board to provide a complete list of contractors and how much they've been paid to date -- and they gave the board a deadline of Dec. 19. "This is taxpayer money, and we have an obligation to know where it is being spent," said Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque, a member of the committee.New Mexico applied for federal money under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly called "Obamacare," to set up a hybrid health insurance exchange. The state is handling the exchange for small businesses that choose to provide insurance for their employees. It is using the federal health insurance exchange to enroll individuals and families, an online program that's still plagued with technical problems.Jason Sandel, an Aztec businessman appointed to the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange board by the Legislature, said the governing board had sent a letter to federal officials expressing frustration that computer glitches have prevented many individuals from shopping and enrolling in insurance plans since the online marketplace was launched last month.Those troubles are threatening New Mexico's hopes of enrolling 84,000 individuals into health plans in the coming year.Sandel told the committee that the board has no information yet on how many individuals in the state have been able to purchase a health plan on the federal system.The state had only five months to set up the hybrid exchange and roll it out in time for the Oct. 1 launch date.Sandel said the exchange has spent about $13.7 million so far to hire staff, set up an Albuquerque office and a call center, and establish the bewellnm.com website to help New Mexicans buy health insurance. The board has agreed to pay close to $100 million in contracts to expand outreach, enroll more people and ensure a more robust computer system for the health exchange.Moores and other legislators wanted to know h迷你倉最平w many of the contracts for the state's exchange went to New Mexico companies. The law establishing the exchange did not require the agency to follow the state's procurement code. But Sandel told lawmakers the board tried to follow the code anyway and gave preference to New Mexico companies. Out-of-state contractors also have subcontracted with New Mexico firms, he said.Sandel said the board recently voted to have staff prepare a monthly list of checks cut and the recipients.Paige Duhamel, an attorney with Southwest Women's Law Center in Albuquerque, also testified before the committee. She asked the members to support legislation ensuring that a Stakeholder Advisory Committee -- set up under the law to give broad advice to the exchange board -- is made up of more than just contractors. She said it should include consumers, health practitioners, health providers, brokers and others.New Mexico has 448,000 uninsured residents and the second highest rate of uninsured in the nation, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. About half of those people will qualify for expanded Medicaid or be old enough to move into Medicare. The rest will be eligible for coverage through the health insurance exchange. Getting more of those people enrolled by a Dec. 15 deadline so they can receive insurance beginning Jan. 1 is a big goal, Sandel told the committee.Meanwhile, the first deadline has passed for small businesses with 50 or fewer full-time employees to enroll with an insurance company and offer health coverage to their employees that will begin Jan. 1. Their employees have until Nov. 31 to sign up for a plan that is partially subsidized by their employers.A total of 294 employers have finished enrolling, and their 1,100 employees can select insurance. Another 925 business owners have begun the health insurance process but have not finished.The Associated Press contributed to this story.Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com. Follow her on Twitter @stacimatlock.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) Visit The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) at .santafenewmexican.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉