Medicaid is a joint federal/state program that was created to provide health care to low-income children. It now insures 67 million Americans at an annual cost of $383 billion to the federal government.
In New Mexico, 637,856 residents received Medicaid benefits in 2010, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
In 2010, the total cost of New Mexico’s Medicaid program was $3.5 billion, 80 percent of which was paid by the federal government. State government contributed $658 million to the program.