Jeffery Bustamante, the CEO of New Mexico's health insurance exchange marketplace beWellnm, submitted his resignation at the start of Monday's board meeting.
“I no longer feel that I am able to ensure success for the organization," Bustamante told the board on Monday. "My resignation will help ensure the board of directors is empowered to achieve excellence with the imminent public health emergency rolloff."
Bustamante was named interim CEO about three years ago.
His announced departure comes as a federal public health emergency in place during the Covid-19 pandemic appears to be nearing an end. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported in mid-March that an estimated 85,000 New Mexicans will lose their Medicaid coverage when the public health emergency is lifted.
“I acknowledge beWell needs someone who can deliver during this critical time,” Bustamante told the board.
The exchange has roughly 45,000 people enrolled. Bustamante, who replaced former CEO Cheryl Gardner, also served as the beWellnm's director of policy and research, according to a November 2019 release announcing his appointment as CEO.
Months after his appointment, Albuquerque Business First reported that beWellnm's board of directors awarded a contract to Virginia-based hCentive to transition the exchange (also called the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange) from a federal technology platform.
The beWellnm board of directors includes David Shaw, Patsy Romero, C. Quinn Lopez, Nandini Pillai Kuehn, Dan Foley, Teresa Gomez, Mona Ghattas, Terriane Everhart, Mark Epstein, Brandon Fryar, David Scrase and Russell Toal.
According to Healthinsurance.org, 45,664 people enrolled in "private individual market plans" through the exchange during 2022 open enrollment.
