Medical compact bills move quickly at Roundhouse amid political tailwinds

SANTA FE — For more than 20 years, New Mexico has only been a member of one interstate medical compact — an agreement dealing with nurses.

But that could change this year, as 10 separate medical compact bills are bolting out of the gates quickly at the Roundhouse during the opening week of the 30-day legislative session.

A compact bill dealing with physicians, Senate Bill 1, unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, after nine bills for different medical professions passed a House panel earlier in the day.

Bill sponsors said joining the compacts could make it easier for New Mexicans to access health care, but cautioned that membership would not fully solve a statewide provider shortage.

"It is a tool," said Sen. Linda Trujillo, D-Santa Fe. "It is not a cure." 

The movement to join additional interstate medical compacts has gathered momentum since several compact bills stalled in the Senate during last year's 60-day legislative session. Those bills had previously passed the state House with broad bipartisan support.

Amid growing political pressure from business groups and nonprofit organizations, a bipartisan group of lawmakers was tasked during the run-up to this year's session with hammering out an agreement on at least one specific interstate compact bill — the one dealing with physicians.

But the working group did not lay some similar groundwork for the other compact bills, which could mean tougher sledding for those proposals in the Senate.

Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, said it was important to ensure the physician compact legislation would not require New Mexico to share data with other member states about doctors who perform abortion services, among other specific provisions.

He and several other Democratic senators also defended the decision not to pass the compact bill in its initial form last year, despite political pressure to do so.

"It took time to get this right," said Senate Democratic floor leader Peter Wirth of Santa Fe.

Backers say joining interstate compacts for physicians, social workers, dentists and other medical professions would help address a health care shortage in New Mexico, as 32 of the state's 33 counties are currently designated as health professional shortage areas.

Many state residents have also expressed frustration at long wait times for appointments and the lack of certain medical specialists in New Mexico.

Fred Nathan, the executive director of Santa Fe-based Think New Mexico, which has advocated for New Mexico to join the various medical compacts, said the state is one of just four states that is currently a member of either one or no compacts.

However, it's unclear exactly how many health care professionals might actually relocate to New Mexico if additional compacts are joined, as Rep. Marian Matthews, D-Albuquerque, described the compacts as "essentially telehealth agreements." 

A legislative analysis of the compact bill for physicians estimated that joining the compact would increase the total number of physician license applications by 10% to 15% per year, but Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, said the actual number of physicians providing services would likely only increase by about 3%.

Each of the compacts is governed by its own rules. While the Nurse Licensure Compact, for instance, allows nurses in member states to automatically work in other states, other compacts simply streamline the application process for licensing.

In any case, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has thrown her support behind the interstate compacts, saying in her State of the State address on Tuesday that joining the compacts would make it easier for licensed out-of-state practitioners to provide care in New Mexico.

The governor also said she expected the compact bill for physicians to be voted on by the full Senate this week.

Troy Clark, the president and CEO of the New Mexico Hospital Association, also testified in support of the compact bills Wednesday, saying the state needs to take action on "many fronts" to address health care access issues.

Some lawmakers have argued that simply joining additional interstate medical compacts would not automatically solve New Mexico's health care access issues, citing the need to also overhaul the state's medical malpractice laws.

Already, several bills dealing with medical malpractice have been filed at the Roundhouse during this year's session — by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

"This is just a Band-Aid on a bullet hole," Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, said during Wednesday's meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, while still urging fellow lawmakers to expedite the other compact bills.

A legislative survey released this week found 65% of current New Mexico physicians are considering leaving the state to practice elsewhere, with most of those doctors citing concerns about the state's medical malpractice laws as their primary concern.

But Cervantes said there are also other factors impacting the state's medical community, pointing out the New Mexico Medical Board has not had a full-time executive director since 2023.

He also suggested other medical compact bills might not move as quickly in the Senate as they do in the House, telling the Journal after Wednesday's hearing, "The difference is we'll read them." 

Dan Boyd covers state government and politics for the Journal in Santa Fe. Follow him on X at @DanBoydNM or reach him via email at dboyd@abqjournal.com.