‘We heard from patients’: New Mexico lawmakers put spotlight on health care | Legislature | New Mexico Legislative Session

Proposals that advanced through both chambers of the Legislature will allow the state to continue subsidizing some health insurance coverage through the federal Affordable Care Act; to maintain state-specific vaccination recommendations; to invest in medical education; and to improve doctor recruitment and retention initiatives, as New Mexico struggles with a severe provider shortage.

Not every measure aimed at improving the state’s health care system saw success.

While lawmakers passed legislation to join dozens of other states participating in interstate licensing compacts — which will ease the process for out-of-state doctors and social workers to practice in New Mexico — eight other compacts stalled in Senate committees following swift and unanimous support in the House.

Those compacts would have made it easier for a range of out-of-state medical workers to serve New Mexico patients: physician assistants, audiologists and speech language pathologists, physical and occupational therapists, dentists and dental hygienists, emergency medical services personnel, counselors, and psychologists.

Six of the failed House compact bills stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The chair, Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, said his panel ran short on time to thoroughly review the bills.

Although, the Legislature’s website shows the House passed many of them on the session’s second day, and all of them had cleared the House by day five.

“They will require a great deal of scrutiny and work on the Senate side, and I think the Legislature counts on our committee to do that depth of work,” Cervantes said in an interview Monday.

Think New Mexico, a nonpartisan think tank and longtime supporter of the interstate doctor compact, has issued a letter urging Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to call a special session to pass all eight of the remaining compacts.

Rep. Liz Thomson, an Albuquerque Democrat who for years has been pushing the state to join the compacts and sponsored five such bills this year, promised they’ll return in upcoming sessions.

“I’m stubborn, and I’ll be back,” she said. “I’ll keep working on them until I get them to a place where they can pass.”

Thomson described the compacts this way: Amid a nationwide shortage of health care providers, passing those bills will “open up a pathway” for out-of-state providers to more easily obtain a license in New Mexico.

“I’m of the opinion that New Mexico truly is the Land of Enchantment,” Thomson said. “People fall in love pretty quickly with New Mexico, so I could see a vacation turning into a career change.”

Thomson said lawmakers in the Senate had voiced concerns about New Mexico’s sovereignty in joining agreements that span several states.

Cervantes said those issues are a challenge to resolve within the time limits of a short legislative session.

“It’s difficult to do that level of work in a 30-day session and give them the proper attention and scrutiny that they deserve,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said the compacts are an “important piece” of the state’s effort to draw more providers, and this year’s process will serve as “a model” to replicate in the future.

“There’s definitely a commitment to keep working on this,” Wirth said.

Self-employed workers, small business owners and other New Mexico residents who purchase health insurance through BeWell — the state’s insurance network established by the federal Affordable Care Act — can continue to rely on state subsidies to keep their premiums affordable.

In the final hours of the legislative session Thursday morning, the House concurred with Senate amendments to House Bill 4, which increases revenue distributions from the state Health Care Affordability Fund, one of the major tools New Mexico uses to reduce the cost of premiums for individual plans purchased through the marketplace.

Revenue for the fund comes from an increased surtax on health insurance premiums statewide, which now stands at 3.75% and is expected to generate $220 million a year, according to June 2025 report to the Legislative Finance Committee. Over the next three fiscal years, the tax revenue directed to the Health Care Affordability Fund will gradually increase, rising to $144 million by 2030, a fiscal impact report on HB 4 states.

Increasing revenue from the fund comes at a critical time: Congress let some federal tax credits expire last year for patients with Affordable Care Act coverage, resulting in skyrocketing premiums. While costs for coverage through BeWell have risen in New Mexico, the state has effectively shielded patients from the full effects.

The increasing distributions are expected to “protect health coverage for up to 46,600 New Mexicans and reduce health care costs for up to 122,000 people statewide,” the state Health Care Authority said in a statement.

“The Health Care Affordability Fund was created for moments like this — and … New Mexico is choosing stability, dignity, and prevention over crisis,” Abuko Estrada, the health care director at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, said in a statement.

Lawmakers also passed House Bill 306, another measure aimed at bringing down health care costs.

The proposal would eliminate facility fees — or extra charges separate from clinician fees intended to cover clinic overhead costs — for preventive outpatient care, vaccinations and telehealth services starting in 2027.

The New Mexico Office of the Superintendent of Insurance does not anticipate those costs will be indirectly passed to consumers through higher insurance premiums, according to a fiscal impact report on HB 306.

Data from the Health Care Cost Institute indicates average facility fees run about $100 for an adult or pediatric primary care visit.

New Mexico patients have for years lamented the application of facility fees, arguing the unexpected fees added hundreds of dollars to the cost of routine health care.

Under HB 306, the fees will still apply for inpatient and emergency care, and at hospitals and clinics in rural areas — including Los Alamos Medical Center, Presbyterian Española Hospital, Holy Cross Medical Center in Taos and Alta Vista Regional Hospital in Las Vegas, N.M., according to the fiscal impact report.

Sen. Liz Stefanics, a Cerrillos Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a news release HB 306 is about “fairness and trust in health care billing.”

“When people go in for a checkup, a vaccine, or a telehealth visit, they should be able to focus on their health — not worry about unexpected add-on charges,” she said. “This bill brings common-sense protections for patients while keeping important safeguards in place for rural and emergency care.”

The New Mexico Department of Health, under new legislation, will continue to set vaccination recommendations independent from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

House Bill 156 gets rid of a sunset clause in a previous bill, leaving the state in control of vaccination recommendations indefinitely. It does not mandate vaccines for adults or affect existing religious exemptions.

While that change might sound small, it’s important, state Health Department Chief Medical Officer Dr. Miranda Durham said in a previous interview with The New Mexican. It allows the state to promulgate its own vaccine guidance and require insurance companies to cover the cost of vaccines recommended by state health officials.

The change stems from great upheaval in vaccine policy at the federal level. The New Mexico Department of Health in January broke with federal guidance on childhood vaccinations after the CDC reduced the number of vaccines routinely recommended for all children from 17 to 11. The state agency recommends families adhere to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ immunization schedule, which encourages routine immunization against flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis, and respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, for all children.

During a few weeks in August and September, inconsistent federal recommendations on the latest COVID-19 vaccine created confusion for pharmacies, health care providers and people seeking the shot.

The state legislation should ease the process for New Mexico residents who want vaccines to get them, state Health Secretary Gina DeBlassie said in a statement.

“We are thankful to the Legislature in ensuring access to vaccines for New Mexicans who want to keep themselves and their loved ones safe,” she said.

As residents decry provider shortages and long wait times for care, helping the state “grow our own” supply of health care workers — and encouraging them to stick around — became a top health care priority during this year’s session, said House Majority Leader Reena Szczepanski, D-Santa Fe.

Lawmakers made a $300 million investment in the state budget for fiscal year 2027 to construct a new medical school at the University of New Mexico’s Albuquerque campus. UNM Health Sciences Center officials have said the new building will allow the university to double enrollment in its medical school classes, expanding from about 100 to about 200 graduates per year.

Lawmakers also set aside $24 million to pay for rural residency rotations for doctors in training at UNM, with the hope those rotations will inspire some residents to stick around in New Mexico’s rural communities.

The state budget also includes $2 million for increased salaries for medical residents and fellows, as well as $3 million to recruit and retain educators to train future doctors and behavioral health professionals.

Legislators also created an incentive for newly trained physicians — who often accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt — to stay in New Mexico through a major expansion of the Health Professional Loan Repayment Fund. Under House Bill 66 — which passed unanimously in the House and Senate — doctors will now be eligible for up to $300,000 in student loan repayment in exchange for four years of service in the state.

Rep. Christine Chandler, a Los Alamos Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors, described it as “probably the most generous physician loan repayment program in the country.”

Chandler also championed House Bill 99, a major piece of legislation to cap the amount of punitive damages juries can award in medical malpractice cases — damages that were previously unlimited.

“I think it will make a big difference in terms of messaging to providers that New Mexico is addressing its litigation issue and we’re willing to work with providers to make sure we provide an environment where they feel comfortable practicing,” Chandler said of HB 99.

While opponents of HB 99 argued it would leave injured patients without an adequate path to justice, supporters — including several Republican lawmakers — said the bill was a critical step to reverse the doctor shortage and reduce the cost of medical malpractice insurance coverage for providers.

The Office of the Superintendent of Insurance anticipates the provisions in HB 99 will help reduce malpractice insurance premiums, but the timing and extent of those changes remains uncertain, Chief Actuary Christian Myers confirmed in an email Monday.

Ultimately, HB 99 secured overwhelming support, with just three “no” votes in the House and two “no” votes in the Senate.

“I am extremely pleased that we were able to get a meaningful reform bill across the finish line,” Chandler said.