Anxiety is rising among many here in New Mexico as the Obama administration works ‘round the clock to fix the new Affordable Health Care website and the first Obamacare enrollment deadline looms in the near distance. Not only that, some people’s health insurance policies are being dropped while others’ rates are rising.

But a leading Native American health advocate in New Mexico says that American Indians and Alaska Natives have fewer reasons to be anxious about the upcoming deadline for the new health insurance law.

“Native health care consumers have no reason to panic,” said Roxane Spruce Bly, director of Healthcare Education and Outreach for the Native American Professional Parent Resources based in Albuquerque. “In general, I think there’s a lot of anxiety for consumers around the country because they need to enroll in coverage by March 31, 2014, to avoid a penalty or a fee.

“For many Native American consumers, they are feeling that same sense of anxiety,” said Spruce Bly, who is from the Pueblo of Laguna. “They actually have plenty of time before they have to make a decision concerning their options for health coverage. There’s a big difference between a tribal consumer and a non-tribal consumer. It’s pretty dramatic.”