With an infusion of cash now and a stable funding stream for the future, a slate of bills Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law Friday are designed to shore up health care across the state.
The measures, which the governor signed during a ceremony at Sierra Vista Hospital in Truth or Consequences, take varied approaches to addressing New Mexico's health care woes, from a self-imposed hospital tax to the final organization of the state's new health care agency. Taken together, the measures drew praise from lawmakers and industry representatives alike.
“It’s a landmark year for health care," said Troy Clark, president and CEO of the New Mexico Hospital Association. “We are going to see a dramatic difference in the access to care, the quality of care, the sustainability of hospitals throughout the state.”
Lujan Grisham celebrated the results.
“Delivering quality healthcare to New Mexico’s population requires a tailored approach that takes into account rural communities, New Mexicans benefiting from Medicaid, and the tens of thousands of public employees in our state,” the governor said in a statement after the event. “These are bills that are going to positively impact a vast swath of New Mexicans.”
House Bill 7 bolsters revenue for the Health Care Affordability Fund, which was established in 2021 in a bid to improve low- and middle-income New Mexicans' access to commercial insurance, said Rep. Reena Szczepanski, D-Santa Fe, one of the measure's co-sponsors.
The fund helps reduce insurance costs for self-employed workers and others who purchase insurance on the state's exchange. It was set to see a funding decrease this year. The new law puts 55% of revenue generated by New Mexico's health insurance premium surtax into the subsidy program, which Szczepanski saidshould guarantee a stable funding stream "for years to come."
"This was a very big session for health care," she said. "And of all the legislation that passed, I think this one will have the greatest impact on New Mexicans at their kitchen tables worrying about their bills and considering their options for health care coverage."
According to the Governor's Office, the fund supports programs that "have saved New Mexicans approximately $45 million on health insurance premiums, offering relief to over 6,000 small businesses and 41,000 employees."
For Clark, the star of Friday's show was Senate Bill 17, the Health Care Delivery and Access Act, "because of the magnitude and the dollars that are there.”
The bill will take money contributed by most New Mexico hospitals, pool it, leverage those funds for a federal Medicaid match and some state money, and then bring all those dollars — a projected $1.1 billion in new funding — back to the contributing hospitals.
The measure should benefit all contributing hospitals, supporters say, but is designed to give a special boost to small, rural facilities.
Bill co-sponsor Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, said he was proud of the way the Legislature, the hospitals and others worked together to pull the measure together.
"It’s really kind of a surprise [when] ... an organization is willing to tax themselves for the betterment of health care," Padilla said. "This was really kind of a banner thing that happened in the Legislature this year.”
Senate Bill 161, meanwhile, makes a $50 million subsidy available to about a dozen of the state's most vulnerable rural hospitals. Clark said the "bridge bill" will help those facilities keep running until the Health Care Delivery and Access Act program is up and running, which he expects to be by next spring.
Lujan Grisham on Friday also celebrated signing Senate Bill 14, which reorganizes the Health Care Authority, an agency that will replace the New Mexico Human Services Department.
Sen. Liz Stefanics, D-Cerrillos, described the measure as the cleanup steps to finalize legislation that last year created the Health Care Authority and identified its goals. Those include getting more New Mexico residents covered by health insurance and streamlining purchasing, Stefanics said.
