Stansbury tells Sandoval County 'big ugly bill' will hit Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP and education; New Mexico preparing temporary backstops

Sandoval County Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury told residents at a Sandoval County town hall that a federal package she called the "big ugly bill" will significantly affect health care, food assistance, education and energy investments and that New Mexico leaders are preparing temporary measures to limit the harm.

Stansbury (U.S. Representative for New Mexico's 1st Congressional District) said the law "spends $4,000,000,000,000 in American taxpayer dollars" and imposes new monthly paperwork requirements on Medicaid recipients that, she said, will cause many people to lose coverage. "Every month as a Medicaid recipient, you're gonna have to reprove you qualify," she said, adding that the change will increase administrative churn and the risk that eligible people will be cut off.

The congresswoman said the package also removes or reduces federal insurance subsidies and that private insurance premiums could rise as a result: "your health care premium is gonna go from about 400 a month to 800 a month again," she said, attributing that estimate to recent conversations with insurers. Stansbury…