New Mexico 2026 ACA enrollment up 20% y/y thanks to backfilling ALL lost federal tax credits; residents still have until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT for coverage starting TOMORROW!!

BeWell NM, New Mexico's ACA exchange, is the only state marketplace with ongoing daily enrollment data reports:

New Mexico Open Enrollment 2026 - Enrollment Summary

Last Refreshed On: December 31st, 2025

• Active Re-enrollees: 17,287
• New Enrollees: 8,443
• Auto-Re-enrollees: 53,042
• Total: 78,772

By comparison, at the same point last year, BeWell NM reported:

• Active Re-enrollees: 19,216
• New Enrollees: 6,644
• Auto-Re-enrollees: 39,826
• Total: 65,686

In other words, new enrollments are up 27% while active renewals are down about 10%; they pretty much cancel each other out compared to the same point last year.

OVERALL, however, total enrollments are up a whopping 20% y/y...and while I've been cautioning that this is likely to drop substantially when the dust settles in other states, New Mexico is unique in that they're the only state which is FULLY BACKFILLING 100% of the lost federal tax credits for ALL enrollees!

There was a feature story about this in yesterday's Albequerque Journal:

New Mexico sees record ACA enrollment following state’s move to offset subsidy losses

The number of people covered through New Mexico’s health care marketplace has already reached a record high this year with two weeks of open enrollment to go, despite ongoing turmoil with insurance subsidies at the federal level.

BeWell, where New Mexicans can purchase health insurance plans via the Affordable Care Act, reported more than 80,400 people enrolled for medical or dental coverage next year as of Dec. 30, the highest number ever and the third record-breaking year in a row, said BeWell’s Chief Experience Officer Alex Sanchez.

Note: 80.4K includes ~1,600 people who enrolled in standalone dental plans.

In 2025, BeWell had almost 79,000 enrolled customers, marking an increase of nearly 2% for 2026. The deadline to secure coverage starting Jan. 1 is Dec. 31, though New Mexicans have until Jan. 15 to get coverage beginning Feb. 1.

Note: If you only include major medical plans (which is my standard), the final 2025 total was 70,373 enrollees, which means New Mexico is already 12% ahead of last year's final tally!

Prices for ACA plans across the country are expected to rise after the expiration of Biden-era tax credits that made ACA premiums more affordable for households with incomes over 400% of the federal poverty level. Though the tax credits were a major sticking point in the federal government shutdown this fall, Congress opted not to renew them by the end of the year.

New Mexico is one of a handful of states that will provide its own assistance to cover the gap left by the change in federal subsidies.

It's true that several other states (including California, Colorado, Maryland & New Jersey) are covering some of the lost tax credits, but New Mexico is the only state to cover all of them for every enrollee...and the difference this makes is night & day vs. every other state in the country.