On November 3, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released a study by the State Health Access Reform Evaluation (SHARE) finding that New Mexico’s State Coverage Insurance (SCI) program successfully insured low-income individuals and may foreshadow the effects of national health reform.  SCI is a public/private partnership offering access to subsidized health insurance for adults earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL).

From the report:

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) aims to encourage small businesses to offer health insurance coverage for their employees. The ACA does this by providing tax credits designed to offset premium costs and by mak-ing coverage available to small employers through insurance exchanges that aim to lower premiums by reducing ad-ministrative expenses and pooling risk more widely. A recent evaluation of a small employer program in New Mexico provides evidence for the effectiveness of direct financial incentives and multi-pronged public/private initiatives in stimulating take-up of coverage by small businesses and their employees.

Full Report: Participation in the New Mexico State Coverage Insurance (SCI) Program: Lessons from Enrollees (PDF | 1 KB)

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2010). Participation in the New Mexico state coverage insurance (SCI) program: lessons from enrollees. Spicer, L., Sommers, A., Boddie-Willis, C., Mikow, A., Abraham, J., Milligan, C., and Spaulding-Bynon, M.