April 5, 2001

SENATE EXECUTIVE MESSAGE NO. 60

The Honorable Richard Romero and

Members of the Senate

Executive-Legislative Building

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87503

Honorable President and Members of the Senate:

I have this day VETOED and am returning CORPORATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL 413, as amended, enacted by the Forty-Fifth Legislature, First Session, 2001.

This bill would require group health care coverage of unmarried dependants until the age of twenty-five. It would help address the problem of young adults who cannot afford or obtain health insurance coverage and seems like a step in the right direction. However, as currently written, this legislation relates to any group health care coverage and does not specifically exclude Medicaid. The New Mexico Salud! Medicaid managed care program is a model of efficiency that maintains responsible cost restraints, while delivering superior health care services. Presently, Salud! does not cover young adults until their twenty-fifth birthday, and to do so would cost the state millions of additional dollars and require an expansion of staff and administration that is unthinkable. New Mexicans have come to expect an extremely high level of health care services because Salud! operates so efficiently and effectively. It does not make sense to put services, vital to so many, in jeopardy. A more tailored piece of legislation that addresses this problem but specifically excludes Medicaid would be more acceptable for all New Mexicans.

Sincerely,

Gary E. Johnson

Governor

RECEIVED FROM THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR:

Time: _____________________ By:_____________________________

Secretary of State

Date ______________________

Time:______________________

Date_______________________ By:_____________________________

Chief Clerk of the Senate

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