New Mexico officials celebrate state bucking Obamacare enrollment trend 

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Kaiser’s study attributes the nationwide decline to the expiration of federal subsidies, known as the Enhanced Premium Tax Credit, that reduced premiums for certain Obamacare enrollees who made less than 400% of the federal poverty level ($128,600 for a family of four.) 

A 2021 federal law created the tax credits with a four-year expiration date, and Congress did not extend them, despite efforts from minority Democrats. 

But unlike other states, New Mexico used its own funds, both in an October 2025 special legislative session and during the regular legislative session earlier this year, to fully pay for the expiring tax credits with state funds.

Roughly 65,000 New Mexicans receive the tax credits. In some cases, the tax credit covers 90% or more of the premium. 

Obamacare enrollment declines in every state but New Mexico

The Kaiser study noted that New Mexico is the only state to fully fund the tax credits on its own. In the period the study analyzed, between late 2025 and May of this year, Obamacare enrollment increased from roughly 69,000 New Mexicans to more than 80,000.

In a statement Wednesday to Source NM, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the enrollment increase shows that New Mexico was right to prioritize healthcare affordability. 

“Affordability is a top priority in New Mexico,” she said. “The results speak for themselves — people urgently need affordable health care. New Mexico is proving that it is possible, even in the face of Congress’s failure to extend these tax credits.” 

Health Care Authority spokesperson Marina Piña noted that the state’s Health Care Affordability Fund, which the Legislature established in 2021 and expanded during the 2026 session, “helped keep premiums and out-of-pocket costs low despite federal subsidy reductions.” 

The 2026 expansion transferred $91 million into the fund through July 1, 2027, along with an additional $162 million in the two fiscal years afterward. 

“We are grateful to the Legislature and the Governor for having the foresight to establish the fund in 2021 and support policies that protect the health and wellbeing of New Mexicans,” she said. 

New Mexico House of Representatives Majority Floor Leader Rep. Reena Szczepanski (D-Santa Fe), who championed state legislation funding the expiring subsidies, told Source NM in a text message Wednesday that maintaining New Mexicans’ access to healthcare during this tumultuous period will have lasting benefits. 

“If we can continue to increase access to healthcare, we will make gains in everything from education to public safety to economic development, because it all starts with good health,” she said. “It’s not too late for Republicans in Congress to act and restore the support that families need.”