New Mexico
A healthcare foundation for changing lives in New Mexico
New Mexico’s rural healthcare system—foundational not just to the well-being of the many New Mexicans but also to the welfare of the state as a whole—is getting much needed attention this legislative session. If this attention is transformed into support by the end of the session on February 15, the results could be life-changing in many parts of the states.
Two-thirds of New Mexicans live in areas identified as having a health provider shortage by the federal government and many of those live in rural communities, where travel distances and reduced hospital services contribute to higher mortality rates, poorer maternal and child health, more cases of untreated chronic pain, and more substance abuse. Accessing routine care in the 26 of 33 New Mexico counties that are largely rural can involve multi-hour drives to the closest provider. Accessing emergency care can be close to impossible.
Healthcare policy experts report rural hospitals, often the only healthcare available to surrounding communities, are facing financial pressures, challenging patient needs, and other pressures and closing throughout the country. While accessing healthcare has become challenging everywhere, rural populations are losing services at higher rates than urban areas. In many ways, rural hospitals are suffering from economic long-Covid; they are still feeling the impacts of the financial losses of the pandemic and must deal with increases in medical malpractice insurance costs, workforce shortages, and rising costs from a depleted position.
The shutdown of a small, rural hospital reverberates throughout the community and throughout the state. Hospitals and healthcare facilities are economic drivers, supporting one in 12 jobs in their communities on average. Rural patients who don’t have care close to home put greater pressure on emergency and healthcare transportation services and add to the patient load of rural healthcare facilities that are already at capacity.
Most importantly, New Mexico cannot expect to succeed—cannot expect to see its children thrive academically and emotionally or its adults prosper economically or socially—if New Mexicans are not healthy.
Over the last few years, the Legislature has taken significant steps to improve healthcare access in rural New Mexico, investing $364 million last year alone in incentivizing new and expanding rural health providers, supporting rural and tribal hospitals, and raising Medicaid payments to healthcare providers.
This year, I am sponsoring a plan that would create a $70 million health facility viability fund to provide grants to healthcare providers that reestablish or expand services in medically underserved areas with operating costs and other expenses. Other legislation under consideration includes proposals to provide $51 million in emergency funding to small rural and frontier hospitals, $60 million for student loan payments for healthcare professionals, and $50 million for quarterly subsidies for small, acute care hospitals that face financial struggles because of patients’ unpaid bills, unaffordable medical malpractice and property insurance, and declining Medicare payments. In addition, legislators are discussing a bill that would leverage a pool of hospital payments with federal funds to raise Medicaid payments to the same level as those paid by commercial insurers.
Almost 200 rural hospitals have shut down nationwide in the last 18 years, and in New Mexico, one hospital has shut down and 15 have cut back services. Rural New Mexicans are losing access to essential services and their communities are losing jobs. The failure of rural hospitals exacerbates persistent health and economic inequities.
We have an opportunity this legislative session to build on the progress we’ve made to turn this failure around. Success in tearing down the barriers to rural healthcare will mean greater success for all New Mexicans.
Sen. Pete Campos, a Democrat from Las Vegas who holds a doctorate in educational leadership and a master’s in guidance and counseling, has been a member of the Senate since 1991 and a member of the Senate Finance Committee since 1997. Campos is also a member of the Legislative Finance, Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy, and Water and Natural Resources committees. He has served as the senator from District 8 in northern New Mexico since 1991 and has served as president of Luna Community College, superintendent of the Las Vegas City Schools, and mayor of Santa Rosa.
New Mexico leaders are backing a bipartisan bill after 12 confirmed U.S. screwworm cases, including one case in a Lea County dog.
SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico leaders are backing a bipartisan bill after 12 confirmed U.S. screwworm cases, including one case in a Lea County dog.
New Mexico State Veterinarian Dr. Samantha Holeck said the parasite has spread to New Mexico, though officials say they have not found any human cases.
“This is also not a political issue this is a nationwide issue that we all need to address because it affects all warm blooded animals including humans,” Holeck said.
U.S. Reps. Gabe Vasquez and Teresa Leger Fernandez support the Protect America’s Herds Act.
The bill would create a grant program to train people to identify, treat, prevent and report screwworm. It would also support more livestock inspections and education for ranchers.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez said she heard concerns from tribal leaders about the cost of protecting cattle herds.
“I spoke with one of our tribal leaders today and they have cattle operation and they’re worried, and they’re talking about how much more money they’re having to pay to go make sure they check on their herds and there are extra costs,” Leger Fernandez said.
Funding would prioritize states and tribal communities most at risk for screwworm outbreaks.
State health officials said screwworm is not a food safety issue. They also said ranchers should stay alert but not alarmed.
New Mexico isn’t done with Meta yet. After the second phase of a landmark trial, the state is asking a judge to make the company pay almost $1 billion to address harm done to young people in New Mexico, SourceNM reports. In a court filing, attorneys with the New Mexico Department of Justice argue that Meta’s addictive design features and recommendation algorithms “substantially contributed to the increase and severity” of problems including depression and eating disorders. The state wants a judge to order Meta to pay $953 million into a fund for public education and behavioral health programs, reports Fox News.
- After the first phase of the trial in March, a jury found the company endangered children and misled the public about its platforms’ safety. Meta was ordered to pay $375 million in damages, $5,000 for each violation.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has argued Meta executives prioritized profit over minors’ safety, ignored internal warnings, and misrepresented what they knew about harms to young users. In the second phase, First Judicial District Court Chief Judge Bryan Biedscheid heard arguments on whether the company’s actions created a public nuisance, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. Final filings in that phase of the trial were submitted Friday. Beyond potential financial penalties, Biedscheid will also rule on the state’s request for Meta to make changes including stricter age controls and “safer algorithms” that “do not prioritize engagement over well being.”
Meta says New Mexico is overreaching, warning that the proposed mandates are “impractical and ill-considered” and “would risk leaving teens less safe, infringe on parental rights, and stifle free expression.” Meta argues that New Mexico hasn’t proven that its platforms affect mental health outcomes. In court filings, Meta has claimed that the state is seeking $3.7 billion, not $953 million, but Chief Deputy Attorney General James Grayson says the higher figure is an expert’s estimate of the cost to fund all child mental health interventions in the state. “We’re not trying to hold Meta responsible for mental health harms in general in New Mexico, only for what social media has cost,” Grayson tells the New Mexican.
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