OPINION: New Mexico lawmakers chose health care access, now we build on it

This legislative session, New Mexico's lawmakers delivered a message patients, physicians and hospitals have been waiting to hear: Health care access is a priority, and we are willing to act.

The need has never been greater. New Mexicans have felt it in the wait times, in the specialists they couldn't find, in the rural hospitals quietly cutting services. Meeting a moment like this requires lawmakers to think in systems, not in silos. This session, they did exactly that, advancing a package of reforms that collectively addresses what no single measure could.

At the center of these efforts is House Bill 99, a long-overdue step toward stabilizing New Mexico's medical malpractice environment. Through the leadership of Reps. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, and Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, and Sen. Liz Stefancis, D-Cerrillos, it passed 66–3 in the House and 40–2 in the Senate — reflecting broad recognition that New Mexico needed reform, and a bipartisan commitment to achieving it.

The result: Physicians no longer face unlimited personal financial exposure simply for practicing here; hospitals may no longer have to absorb premiums that force service cuts; and patients retain full recourse when care falls short. New Mexicans also regain something more fundamental by restoring a health care system that actually serves them.

Meaningful reform, however, required more than stabilizing the liability environment. Recruiting and retaining physicians demands a full ecosystem of support and this session reinforced the foundation to create one. New Mexico will be joining the physician and social work interstate licensing compacts, and the hospital supplemental payment program is now permanent, allowing community hospitals to plan and invest with certainty.

Stable funding followed stable policy. Lawmakers funded a new medical school at the University of New Mexico and rural residency rotations, increased loan repayment support for physicians, and created a $10,000 tax credit for practicing doctors — all of these help build a pipeline designed to recruit, train and retain providers where they're needed most.

Additional direct funding for projects at independent rural hospitals and a new forensic unit at the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute strengthen our health care infrastructure.

None of these measures alone would have been sufficient. But, together and paired with last year’s Medicaid Trust Fund and the Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act, they represent the most comprehensive commitment to health care access New Mexico has made in a generation: addressing the legal environment driving away providers, the workforce pipeline running dry, the hospital infrastructure under pressure and the access barriers patients face every day.

This session demonstrated what's possible when lawmakers, health care providers and patients align around a shared goal. The New Mexico Hospital Association is grateful for the partnership shown by legislators in both chambers and both parties, and to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for her unwavering commitment to and support for improving our health care system. These reforms lay a strong foundation, and we are committed to building on it. Our hospitals, our physicians and our patients deserve nothing less, and the best is yet to come.

Troy Clark is the president and CEO of the New Mexico Hospital Association.