New Mexico in a few weeks hopes to start bringing some 150,000 more people onto the Medicaid rolls in advance of the federal government's deadline for expanding the program.

Julie Weinberg is the director of the state Medical Assistance Division of the Human Services Department. She says it's a massive undertaking.

As part of the effort, Weinberg says those who are eligible can enroll in what the state is now calling Centennial Care. They will then choose among four private health care networks.

Weinberg tells The New Mexican she hopes the expansion along with new options for private coverage through an insurance exchange will transform health care in the state.

About 570,000 New Mexicans are already enrolled in Medicaid, but the state still ranks among the top for uninsured.