OPINION: Putting patients and providers first: A common sense plan for better health care In New Mexico

New Mexico’s health care system is in crisis and corporate profiteering is the root cause of the problem that threatens the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of our fellow New Mexicans. Families across our state wait weeks for basic primary care appointments, patients are being injured at some of the highest rates in the country and doctors are being targeted by out-of-state private equity behemoths set on bankrupting their practices and restricting their ability to care for patients. Fortunately, there are several common-sense ideas to improve health care, protect patients and protect doctors.

As speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives in 2021, I worked with colleagues across the aisle, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, insurance companies, patients and attorneys who represent victims of malpractice to negotiate a complete reform of our medical-malpractice laws. That process proved meaningful progress is possible when we abandon finger-pointing and focus on solutions the public can feel. We need that spirit now, more than ever.

The Legislative Finance Committee’s recent report makes the challenge concrete: New Mexico needs about 200 additional primary-care physicians to erase federal shortage designations statewide. Significant, but not insurmountable. Far fewer than Texas (885) and Arizona (493), among others.

And though our average compensation for medical harm is in the bottom third the national average — we’re 16th out of 50 states — we have among the highest rates of successful claims per capita. Put simply, New Mexicans are being hurt by a health care system run by corporations and they’re winning their cases more often than anywhere else. That doesn’t mean too many people are suing; it means too many people are being harmed by private-equity-run hospitals that care about one thing more than anything else: Cutting costs to increase profits, even if it means patients get harmed as a result. Instead of making it harder for people to speak up by closing courthouse doors, we should focus on making care better, safer and more available.

Fortunately, real solutions are within reach.

First, let’s stop subsidizing multi-billion-dollar corporations and start investing in the people who actually provide care. That means full loan forgiveness for doctors and nurses who work in shortage areas, “pay-as-you-go” education programs, down payment assistance for housing, medical equipment financing, free licensure and real support for independent providers who want to keep their individual practices from being consumed by corporate interests. When it comes to health care providers, we have a huge workforce crisis; it’s time we treat it like one.

Second, we must regulate private-equity-owned and corporate hospitals and implement transparency measures recommended by the LFC. Taxpayer dollars that go to corporate-owned hospitals should come with strings attached: focus on improving patient outcomes, reducing medical errors and dramatically improving access to care. New Mexicans deserve to know how their money is being spent and what outcomes they’re getting in return.

Third, we must adopt safe staffing ratios to prevent burnout and medical errors. Nurses and doctors are telling us they are overwhelmed, overworked and unable to give patients the care they need. This is the predictable result of profit-driven cost cutting. When hospitals push staff to their breaking point, patients suffer the consequences. We must end the red tape that delays and denies care. Insurance pre-authorizations and denials put profits ahead of people. Decisions about care should be made by health care providers and their patients, not insurance executives.

And finally, we must defeat legislation that tilts the playing field in favor of corporations at the expense of patients. When politicians limit victims’ ability to seek justice, tie the hands of their attorneys, or take power away from juries, they’re not improving care — they’re covering for abuse.

New Mexicans can no longer ignore the obvious: The corporate takeover of our health care system is untenable — for patients, doctors, nurses and entire communities. We need measurable action, not scapegoats.

We’ve spent too many years arguing over piecemeal fixes while ignoring a harsh reality: The corporate takeover of health care in our state has created a system where patients and providers are too often set up to fail.

When we negotiated the malpractice compromise four years ago, we found common ground because the discussion centered on data and dignity. That same spirit must guide us again.