OPINION: Health care compacts help fill the gap

If you can't get an appointment, if you can't see a specialist, it isn't health care. And, for too many people in New Mexico, that's sadly the case. We're short on physicians, nurses, behavioral health specialists — whatever the category of health care provider, we haven't got enough.

 There are a lot of steps that need to be taken to attract and retain doctors and other health care professionals. As we work to make some of those bigger changes, there's a very sensible step that the Legislature can take to help fill the gap: adopt all 10 of the interstate health care compacts that allow out-of-state physicians and other health care professionals to practice in New Mexico, subject to our laws and regulations. This would be especially valuable for increasing access to specialists via telehealth. 

Compacts are agreements among states to allow health care professionals licensed in other states to practice in their state. The compacts cover health professions including doctors, physician assistants, audiologists and speech therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, EMS personnel, counselors, psychologists, social workers and dentists and dental hygienists. While the number of states participating in any one compact varies, generally between 30 and 40 states have joined, and the numbers grow every year. It's not uncommon for other states to participate in most or all of these opportunities, as our neighbors in Colorado do. 

New Mexico has joined only one compact, for nursing. What's keeping us from joining more?

There is no secret about it: The New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association blocked passage of all the compact bills passed by the House last year. The bills were all derailed in the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

So what's the hang up? Good question since these compacts have been around for a long time and they are working well in a growing majority of states. Some lawyers argue that the compacts have flaws that need to be fixed before we join. Maybe so, but apparently these flaws are pretty small since they don't seem to have caused any problems for the many other states that already participate. Nevertheless, that argument was good enough to block action in 2025. 

So far in this session, the Senate has approved one compact, for doctors, which Senate sponsors claim they single-handedly engineered to overcome all the alleged flaws. Good for them. Here's the rub: is the Senate Judiciary Committee now going to try to micro-modify all nine bills that will soon be sent to them by the House, which has been working overtime in bipartisan fashion to get all the compacts passed along with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham? Will this be used again this session as an excuse to block most of the compacts from passing? That would be a travesty. We can and should pass the compacts now and then work with the compact legal staff to develop modifications later if they’re really necessary.

Adopting the compacts will clearly bring additional health care workforce and services to our state. It's not a permanent fix to our health care shortage but it is a valuable interim solution until the Legislature can tackle the more difficult problem of fixing the very broken medical malpractice laws (which trial lawyers also don't want to pass) and enact other measures to incentivize health care professionals to stay in our state. 

If you agree with our viewpoint, contact your state senator and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Urge them to pass the nine House compact bills and send them to the governor's desk. The Legislature should not let the perfect stand in the way of all the good these compacts can offer New Mexicans.

Terri Cole is the president and CEO of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. Sherman McCorkle is chair of the GACC.