By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE – Both U.S. senators from New Mexico have joined a group of 10 Democratic colleagues in calling for an extension for people seeking health-care coverage on the troubled www.healthcare.gov website.
Sen. Tom Udall and Sen. Martin Heinrich co-signed a letter sent Friday to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE – The long-running drama over allegations of misspent Medicaid dollars has been extended.
New Mexico Attorney General Gary King on Thursday said his department’s investigation into charges of up to $36 million in potential fraud against 15 behavioral health-care providers will run for at least two more months.
“We [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — People getting unemployment benefits in New Mexico stay on unemployment longer than residents of other states, despite national numbers showing New Mexico’s rate at less than the national average.
New Mexico Watchdog looked into U.S. Department of Labor statistics that show New Mexico finishing 51st in the [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE – The troubled $48 million computer program handling New Mexico’s unemployment taxes and claims has dramatically improved, the secretary of the state’s Department of Workforce Solutions said Wednesday.
But at least one state senator is skeptical.
DWS Secretary Celina Bussey said average telephone wait times on Mondays — typically [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
ALBUQUERQUE — Sometimes justice is delayed; sometimes justice is denied. And sometimes, as in the case of former New Mexico state Rep. Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos, justice never seems to even get out of bed in the morning.
On Monday, a district court judge ordered yet another delay in the criminal [...]

In the end, the most amazing thing about the entire partial government shutdown/debt ceiling crisis screamfest and garden party is that there’s still a can left to kick down the road.
You’d think there would only be a few shards of tin remaining, given that after all the melodrama the members on Capitol Hill still haven’t [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — Now that the partial government shutdown and debt ceiling debate is over (for now), members of New Mexico’s Capitol Hill delegation are getting cheers and jeers on social media.
A perusal of the Facebook pages of the four Democrats and one Republican reflect the bitter partisan divide [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE – It’s a tale of two websites when it comes to the rollout of the Affordable Care Act in New Mexico.
The New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange, tasked with signing up small businesses and their employees, appears to be running smoothly. But the federal site — healthcare.gov — [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — The race for the Democratic candidate to take on Republican Gov. Susana Martinez got a little more crowded Wednesday.
Saying he’s “in it to win it,” state Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City, said he’ll join New Mexico Attorney General Gary King and state Sen. Linda Lopez in [...]

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — By the end of this month, Gov. Susana Martinez will decide on a replacement for a state representative who died in August.
“She will select someone from the candidates she has available to her at that time,” Martinez spokesman Enrique Knell said in an email to New [...]