New Mexico runs wild, but UNLV Board allows greater access wins MWC shootout shoo Sports, D-1 to Valles Caldera preserve Page C-1
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Sunday, September 29, 2013
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Ready or not, here comes health reform
As New Mexico’s health insurance marketplace prepares to kick off enrollment, consumers and businesses are still trying to make sense of the Affordable Care Act
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Budget end game looms House votes to delay Obamacare, increasing chances of shutdown By David Espo
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Locked in a deepening struggle with President Barack Obama, the Republican-controlled House approved legislation early Sunday imposing a one-year delay in key parts of the nation’s health care law and repealing a tax on medical devices as the price for avoiding a partial government shutdown in a few days’ time. Even before the House voted, Senate Democrats pledged to reject the measure and the White House issued a statement vowing a veto in any event. Republicans are pursuing “a narrow ideological agenda … and pushing the government towards shutdown,” it said. The Senate is not scheduled to meet until mid-afternoon on Monday, 10 hours before a shutdown would begin, and even some Republicans said privately they feared that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., held the advantage in the fastapproaching end game. If so, a House GOP rank and file that includes numerous tea party allies would soon have to choose between triggering the first partial shutdown in nearly
Please see BUDgET, Page A-5 Harry’s Roadhouse owner Peyton Shapiro, right, prepares insurance information Thursday for baker Lisa Goodman. Shapiro is one of many local business owners struggling to navigate the mandates of the Affordable Care Act. LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN
INSIDE
The challenge for small businesses: Get workers covered or face penalties
u Your guide to the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange. PAgE A-4
By Bruce Krasnow
By Deborah Busemeyer
COMINg MONDAY
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u More on the income tax credits available for insurance and questions and answers about the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange and the Affordable Care Act.
For The New Mexican
ana Lopez has worked as a full-time caregiver for eight years in Santa Fe, serving as a companion for adults who need assistance. Her employer doesn’t offer health insurance, and she never looked into it on her own. “I hear about Obamacare, but I don’t know anything about it,” the 27-year-old said. Lopez is not alone. As the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange goes live this week, Lopez is among thousands of state residents who will be eligible to begin shopping for health insurance as part of President Barack Obama’s universal health care initiative. Over the next six months, state health officials expect about 83,000 New Mexicans to buy insurance through the exchange. People can begin shopping for insurance Tuesday. Yet many, like Lopez, know little about the requirements or the options available to them. And even with the state promising to provide assistance, sorting it out could prove a monumental task for those who have never had insurance.
Please see EXCHANgE, Page A-4
Brownmoor lessons Teaching career at private girls school drew Barbara Townsend Meem to Santa Fe. NEIgHBOrS, C-8
Index
Calendar A-2
The New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange website, bewellNM.com, counts down to Oct. 1, when enrollment begins. State officials expect about 83,000 New Mexicans to buy insurance through the exchange.
The New Mexican
Peyton and Harry Shapiro, owners of Harry’s Roadhouse, the popular eatery on Old Las Vegas Highway, are among the many small businesses trying to navigate the mandates of the Affordable Care Act. They’re right on the cusp. Because they have a few more than 50 full-time workers, they will be required to provide basic health insurance for employees, but not until 2015. Meanwhile, all of their employees must buy health insurance by March 2014 or face a fine as high as 1 percent of gross income when they file their federal income tax returns. The Shapiros have always provided health insurance to their full-time managers. However, Peyton Shapiro said that younger workers have not been interested, even if the business picked
Obituaries
Santa Fe, Sept. 23 Edgar Davis Janie Lovato, Bush Jr., 81, Los 66 Alamos, Sept. 22 Hilda Graetz Rush, 101, Leroy “Coy” Aug. 23 Herrera, 75, John Francis Aug. 27 Suttle, Sept. 9 Scott Riley PAgE C-2 Johnson, 25,
Classifieds E-9
Lotteries A-2
Neighbors C-8
Pasapick
up half the cost of the monthly premium. Most of them are just not thinking about getting sick — and they don’t have a lot of cash sitting around for extras like insurance. “They’d rather have that money in their pocket,” she said. “But if people have to do it, I think they’ll do it.” Last week, Peyton Shapiro distributed information to her employees on the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange so they could begin to think about options. She said she will see how that goes and then consider what to do for 2015. Shapiro said that in 21 years at Harry’s, the new law is her biggest challenge. “There’s been nothing quite like this. This is huge. It affects everybody.” Since World War II, when wage and price controls were enacted to stabilize the economy, the bulk of health insurance has
See BUSINESSES, Page A-4
www.pasatiempomagazine.com
Heartbeat: Music of the Native Southwest
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture exhibit; opening events include performances by Tewa Women’s Choir and Navajo altrock duo Sihasin, reception 1-4 p.m., 710 Camino Lejo, Museum Hill, 476-1250.
Today Mostly sunny. High 74, low 45. PAgE D-6
Opinion B-1
Police notes C-2
Editor: Ray Rivera, 986-3033, rrivera@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Brian Barker, bbarker@sfnewmexican.com
Real Estate E-1
Sports D-1
Time Out/puzzles E-16
Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010
INSIDE u Analysis: Washington gridlock at another level. PAgE A-5
Report cites radio problems in deaths of 19 firefighters Families of Hotshots say investigation falls short By Felicia Fonseca and Hannah Dreier The Associated Press
PRESCOTT, Ariz. — A threemonth investigation into the June deaths of 19 Arizona firefighters found that the men ceased radio communication for a half hour before they were killed in a wildfire blaze. The report did not assign blame, and some family members say that reluctance could put other lives in danger. The 120-page report released Saturday found that proper procedure was followed in the worst firefighting tragedy since Sept. 11, 2001. Investigators suggested that the state of Arizona should possibly update its guidelines and look into better tracking technology. All but one member of the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew died June 30 while protecting the small former gold rush town of Yarnell, about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix, from an erratic, lightning-sparked wildfire. Hotshots are elite backcountry firefighters who hike deep into the brush to fight blazes.
See FIrEFIgHTErS, Page A-5
Six sections, 76 pages 164th year, No. 272 Publication No. 596-440