Medical compact bills zoom through House, but could face tougher sledding in Senate

SANTA FE — For the second year in a row, the New Mexico House has approved a range of interstate compact bills aimed at making it easier for state residents to get treatment from trained specialists.

House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, said the seven separate compact bills were "signed, sealed and almost delivered" after they all won approval without a single "no" vote Wednesday.

But the bills calling for New Mexico to join compacts for social workers, physical therapists, audiologists and other professionals could find tougher sledding in the Senate, where similar proposals stalled during last year's 60-day session.

The Senate has already approved one compact bill — dealing with physicians — during this year's 30-day session, but only did so after a bipartisan working group spent several months last year crafting state-specific changes to the proposal.

Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, has said a similar process could be used to tackle the other compact bills but cautioned that might not happen before this year's session ends Feb. 19.

However, that warning hasn't stopped proponents of joining additional compacts from moving proposals forward during the session's initial stanza.

Rep. Liz Thomson, D-Albuquerque, who is sponsoring several of the compact bills, said during the House floor debate Wednesday that language changes have been made to bring the bills in line with the final version of the Senate-approved physician compact legislation.

She also said that joining the additional compacts could improve health care access around the state in several ways.

"Compacts are one of the quickest, most effective ways to improve access to health care, cut down on long wait times, and improve health outcomes for the people of our state," Thomson said. "Not only does participation in compacts attract providers to our state, it also increases access to telehealth options so folks don’t have to travel long distances for appointments that can be held remotely."

New Mexico is currently a member of just one interstate medical compact — the one for nurses — and backers say joining additional compacts 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.

Joining the various interstate compacts might not fully solve the problem though, as health care officials have also cited challenges such as the high number of doctors in the state nearing retirement and New Mexico's highest-in-the-nation Medicaid enrollment rate.

In addition, a number of lawmakers and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham have said changes to the state's medical malpractice laws are urgently needed to lure health care providers to New Mexico and keep them in the state.

In a recent interview, Lujan Grisham warned lawmakers she is "not leaving this job" without fixes to the medical malpractice system. The governor's second term in office expires at the end of this year.

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.