Letters to the Editor (Nov. 6, 2025)

So many questions; no answers from politicians

Editor:

OK, well here it is. I have loved getting my ACA insurance in the past; it has been a great solution in general. There were a few fantastic years when I had zero premiums, and even when I had to pay a premium, they were very reasonable.

Last year, they went from $80 to $166 and this year they doubled again, even with the help that New Mexico is giving us. Almost $330 per month.

And my new doctor that I loved? Her practice decided to stop taking ACA insurance because it doesn’t reimburse them enough. I lost my gynecologist years ago because they wouldn’t accept ACA insurance.

For the first time in my life, I have had to deal with a medical condition that requires a lot of testing and imaging. I’m being punished for needing help despite decades of paying for insurance and not using it. Just like car insurance — you can be with the same company for years and years driving safely, and then as soon as you make a claim, your premiums skyrocket.

I don’t know exactly what I should be doing. I need health insurance, and I’m a little too young for Medicare. I haven’t bought meat that wasn’t in the discount bin for the last five years already. Tofu is $3.50 per pound at Walmart. Turkeys are on sale for $0.84 a pound though. I guess I will be stocking up on that protein source.

I do understand that I am very fortunate to have a roof over my head, that I own, and very little debt overall. But the daily costs of living are getting to be unsustainable.

I had wanted to start slowing down my practice and take time off from teaching, but it feels like I just cannot afford to accommodate that these days. I’m already working six days a week. There will be no retirement.

Ellen Santistevan

Los Lunas

Our state is resilient

Editor:

I am writing in response to the recent letter blaming Democrats for what the writer described as our state of New Mexico being in “a sorry state of affairs.” I’ll refer to this writer as “Negative Nellie.”

First of all, that is her bleak version of New Mexico — not the reality many of us live and cherish every day. New Mexico is a beautiful, culturally rich and welcoming place to call home. It is disheartening to see someone reduce our great state to a list of unsupported complaints and partisan attacks.

If Negative Nellie wishes to make such claims, it would be helpful to include credible and verifiable sources rather than unsubstantiated statistics. Without reliable evidence, her statements come across as nothing more than politically charged rhetoric.

Is New Mexico perfect? Of course not — no place is. But to many of us who live, work and raise families here, New Mexico remains a wonderful state filled with beauty, resilience, and pride.

Mary Ulibarri

Los Lunas