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New Mexico Medicaid and the new work rules
Turquoise Care is run by New Mexico Health Care Authority (HCA), Medical Assistance Division (MAD) — created July 1, 2024 when Medicaid functions were consolidated out of the former Human Services Department (HSD) into the new HCA. New Mexico expanded Medicaid on 2014-01-01, which is why the new federal work requirement reaches this state — and why what you do before January 1, 2027 matters.
From January 1, 2027, most adults have to show 80 hours a month
The requirement applies to adults aged 19 to 64 covered through Medicaid expansion — around 230,000 people in New Mexico. It is not only about paid work: study, job training, volunteering and a mix of them all count , and earning at least $580 a month satisfies it on its own.
HCA says it will first try to confirm compliance or an exemption automatically using existing data (wage records, SNAP/TANF status, school enrollment, VA disability status). Where HCA cannot verify this way, it will send a 30-calendar-day compliance notice; a member's coverage continues during that 30-day window while they report completed hours, an exemption, or that the rule does not apply to them. Documentation is required only for exclusions, exceptions, or activities HCA cannot verify through its own data sources; HCA accepts self-attestation for several categories, including American Indian/Alaska Native status.
If your hours swing from month to month, say so. The rule is written per month, which is the wrong shape for farm and fishing work, construction, tourism and seasonal retail — a good month and a dead month average out to a living, but the dead month is the one that fails. Federal law has a provision for exactly this: a seasonal worker can satisfy the requirement using their average monthly income over the previous six months instead of hours worked in the month being checked. It is at 42 CFR 435.552(a)(7), and the law defines who counts as seasonal by pointing at the tax code rather than listing jobs, so do not decide for yourself that it misses you. If your work is seasonal or your hours are irregular, tell the state that when you report, and ask for the six-month average to be used.
You do not have to prove anything if any of these describe you
Exemptions are meant to be applied by the state automatically from records it already holds, but records are imperfect. If one of these fits you and you still get asked to report hours, say so and ask them to check — don't assume the notice is right.
What you can earn and still qualify
Monthly income, before tax, for the whole household. These are the state's own published figures, which is what its caseworkers actually apply. If you are close to a line, apply anyway — some income does not count, and only the agency can run the calculation for your situation.
Adults 19 to 64133% of the poverty line
- 1 person
- $1,769
- 2 people
- $2,399
- 3 people
- $3,028
- 4 people
- $3,658
- 5 people
- $4,288
- 6 people
- $4,917
- 7 people
- $5,547
- 8 people
- $6,176
Parents and caretakers35% of the poverty line
- 1 person
- $451
- 2 people
- $608
- 3 people
- $765
- 4 people
- $923
- 5 people
- $1,080
- 6 people
- $1,238
- 7 people
- $1,395
- 8 people
- $1,553
Pregnant250% of the poverty line
- 1 person
- $3,325
- 2 people
- $4,509
- 3 people
- $5,692
- 4 people
- $6,875
- 5 people
- $8,059
- 6 people
- $9,242
- 7 people
- $10,425
- 8 people
- $11,609
Source: New Mexico Health Care Authority, 'New Mexico Medical Assistance Programs' eligibility pamphlet, effective July 1, 2026 (hca.nm.gov); the figures below for household size 1 match the income table independently published by BeWell New Mexico, the state's ACA marketplace. A note on precision: HCA publishes a new eligibility pamphlet roughly every six months as federal poverty guidelines update; the January 1, 2026 version of this same pamphlet listed lower figures (for example, $1,735/month for a one-person household at 133% FPL, versus $1,769 in the July 1, 2026 version used here), and a separate HCA regulatory table dated April 1, 2026 (MAD-222) matches the older January figures. We publish the state figure.
Two other changes land on the same day
Renewals get more frequent, and back-dated coverage gets shorter.
P.L. 119-21 §71112, amending 42 U.S.C. §1396a(a)(34). Applies to applications submitted on or after January 1, 2027.
New Mexico has a law that would end expansion automatically
Coverage here is tied by statute to how much the federal government pays.
Not identified as a single codified New Mexico statute by this research; characterized consistently by independent national trackers rather than confirmed against a specific NMSA session-law citation. Multiple independent trackers — the Center for American Progress, healthinsurance.org, and Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families — group New Mexico with Iowa and Idaho as having a provision requiring state legislative review and reconsideration of Medicaid expansion if the federal match rate (FMAP) for the expansion group drops below 90%, rather than a self-executing end to expansion like the nine other 'automatic trigger' states (Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia).
If the 90% federal match rate for New Mexico's expansion group is reduced, state lawmakers would be required to review the Medicaid expansion program and decide whether to scale it back or end it — a legislative and budget decision, not an automatic cutoff the way it works in the nine automatic-trigger states. healthinsurance.org estimates that if New Mexico, Iowa, and Idaho all eliminated expansion after this required review, total coverage losses across all 12 trigger-law states would approach 3.7 million people, up from roughly 3 million in the nine automatic-termination states alone.
No reduction to the expansion group's 90% federal match rate has taken effect as of October 2026, so this review requirement has not been activated.
This is not a reason to delay applying. It is a reason to keep your contact details current, open everything the state sends, and not assume coverage renews itself.
Do this now
Update your address and phone number first. Everything about the new rules arrives by mail, and a stale address is the most common reason people lose coverage they are still entitled to. Then check whether an exemption applies to you.
About the phone numbers: The Consolidated Customer Service Center's automated phone system is available 24/7, but live agents only take calls Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Mountain Time.
Deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired: 711 (Relay New Mexico).
The New Mexico Health Care Authority provides written Medicaid materials in English and Spanish and offers free oral interpretation in 58 languages, including Diné (Navajo) and other languages spoken by New Mexico's tribal communities, through its contracted language line. Call the Consolidated Customer Service Center at 1-800-283-4465 and ask for an interpreter in your language, or request one in person at your local Income Support Division office. Relay New Mexico provides free 24-hour telephone interpretation for callers who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, or speech disabled — dial 711.
Most people who lose coverage lose it over paperwork, not eligibility
Nationally, most people who lose Medicaid lose it over paperwork rather than because they stopped qualifying. From January 1, 2027 that matters more, not less.
NOTICE OF ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION
Case number: ███████
Date of this notice: 1January 12, 2027
Our records do not show that you met the community engagement requirement for the reporting period.
2If you believe this is incorrect, or if an exemption applies to you, contact us on or before February 11, 2027.
3Coverage for other members of your household is not affected by this notice.
What the federal data says about coverage here
Public federal data describes how each state runs its program. Almost all of it is written for policy analysts. Here is what those numbers mean if you are the person enrolled.
Coverage here runs through private health plans rather than the state paying providers directly. You pick a plan, and your plan decides your network.
Check your doctor is in the plan before you choose it.
Where you live in this state changes what coverage is worth. New Mexico is heavily rural and 'frontier' — about 30% of its 2.1 million residents live in rural or frontier counties, where the median county spans roughly 3,758 square miles with a population density just above the 6-person-per-square-mile 'frontier' threshold, and can take more than 45 minutes to cross. The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center's 2023 health workforce data summary found that of the state's 3,008 licensed primary care physicians, only 1,607 were actively practicing; that just 71.5% of New Mexicans have a primary care provider, compared with 76.8% nationally; that 8 of the state's 33 counties have no hospital-based labor-and-delivery or surgical obstetric services at all; and that the entire state has only about 230 practicing Ob-Gyns. New Mexico's Department of Workforce Solutions, in its 2025 Health Care Workforce Committee annual report, connects this same shortage to New Mexico having the nation's highest share of its population covered by Medicaid. University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Clinical & Translational Science Center, 2023 health workforce data summary; New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, Health Care Workforce Committee 2025 Annual Report (nmlegis.gov)
You are exempt from the work requirement — and enrolling still matters
New Mexico is home to 23 sovereign tribal nations — 19 Pueblos, the Navajo Nation, and the Jicarilla Apache and Mescalero Apache Nations — and American Indians and Alaska Natives have additional protections built into Turquoise Care. Members can choose either a managed care plan or traditional fee-for-service Medicaid, and either way they keep full access to Indian Health Service, tribal (Public Law 93-638), and Urban Indian Health facilities regardless of which option they pick. Native American members never pay a Medicaid copay. Starting October 1, 2025, Turquoise Care added a Traditional Health Care Practices benefit covering care from traditional healers, making New Mexico one of the first states — along with Arizona, California, and Washington — to cover this service under Medicaid. On the new federal work requirement that starts January 1, 2027: American Indians and Alaska Natives are exempt from it entirely, and HCA's own guidance states the exemption 'is based solely on your self-attestation of being American Indian' and that 'no proof of American Indian blood is required.' That same self-attestation also keeps a member on a 12-month renewal cycle instead of the 6-month cycle most other adults in the expansion group will face starting in 2027. If someone did not identify as American Indian when they first applied, HCA says to contact the agency directly to update that information, since the exemption is not applied automatically to someone who never attested to it — members who do not self-attest may be required to comply with the work rules and 6-month renewals like any other Other Adult Medicaid member. New Mexico's Medical Assistance Division consults its Native American Technical Advisory Committee (NATAC) on Medicaid policy affecting tribal members.
Questions people ask about this
Do the new Medicaid work rules apply to me in New Mexico?
How many hours a month do I have to work?
Who is exempt from the work requirement in New Mexico?
When do the New Mexico work rules start?
What is the income limit for New Mexico Medicaid?
How do I apply for Turquoise Care?
How often do I have to renew New Mexico Medicaid?
Guides for neighboring states
The rules change completely at the state line. If you moved recently, or you're helping family somewhere else, start with their state rather than this one.
New Mexico's new Medicaid work requirement starts January 1, 2027, and HCA will mail letters in January 2027 to members with a March 2027 renewal date explaining whether they must report 80 hours a month of work, school, or volunteering, or an exemption.
Make sure your address, phone number, and email are current at YES.NM.GOV now, because if HCA cannot verify your hours or exemption automatically, you will get only 30 days to respond before your coverage is at risk — and American Indian and Alaska Native members who did not already mark that on their application should contact HCA to update it, since that exemption is not applied unless it has been self-attested.
Updating your address takes two minutes and protects everything else. Do that first, then check the exemption list above.
Go to Apply or manage a case at YES.NM.GOV →