New Mexico
N.M. regulators recommend lower ambulance rates, mileage charges
By Nicholas Gilmore
The Santa Fe New Mexican
SANTA FE, N.M.—State regulators have an extended deadline this week to reach a deal with a nonprofit ambulance organization that is seeking to double its rates and hike its mileage charges.
Albuquerque Ambulance Service, affiliated with Presbyterian Healthcare Services, is the highest-volume provider of emergency and nonemergency medical transportation in New Mexico, serving patients in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Rio Arriba counties.
Staff of the state Public Regulation Commission recommended a 35% increase to the nonprofit’s various ambulance rates and a 10% increase in mileage fees, significantly lower than what was requested in a January rate case application.
Although an initial deadline for a stipulated agreement between commission staff and Albuquerque Ambulance Service has passed, commission spokesman Patrick Rodriguez wrote in an email an extension was granted, setting a new deadline Wednesday.
If a settlement is not reached, the commission will hold a hearing on the case on April 15.
Rodriguez declined to provide a comment from commission staff but wrote there would be an opportunity for public comment on the proposed increase at the beginning of the hearing, and written public comment is now being accepted.
Albuquerque Ambulance Service, which already has some of the highest ambulance costs in the region, has proposed increases that would double its base charges for the first mile of service at different levels and increase mileage costs by 25%. Under the proposal, charges for specialty care transport would rise from $1,072 to $2,144. That number is down from even higher increases of about 175% sought in August. The nonprofit attributed the more modest request to an increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates that became effective retroactively to July 1.
According to testimony from commission staff filed in March, an analysis of the nonprofit’s finances showed it has operated at a loss for four years due to increasing costs for labor and supplies.
The CEO testified a competitive job market for emergency services has forced the company to recruit out of state. The total costs to the nonprofit for sign-on and retention bonuses has risen from about $15,000 in 2014 — when Albuquerque Ambulance Service last received approval for a rate increase — to nearly $1.07 million in 2021, he said.
Commission staff analysts sought more information from the nonprofit regarding its cash balances over the last 10 years, any subsidies received from Bernalillo County and a breakdown of services and debt balances with Presbyterian in recent years.
Alyssa Armijo, a spokeswoman for Presbyterian, declined to provide such information or to comment on settlement negotiations but said the organization is preparing to submit documents to the commission.
Armijo wrote in an email Albuquerque Ambulance Service “experienced acute financial challenges during and post-COVID.”
“The economic changes stemming from the pandemic accelerated the need to request a tariff increase,” Armijo wrote. “We have typically held off on rate increases until absolutely necessary.”
Asked whether the organization was concerned about the potential for higher rates to discourage people from calling for an ambulance, even if they need one, Armijo wrote the company would “continue to work with individuals who may have difficulty paying.”
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New Mexico
10-month-old New Mexico girl kidnapped after mother, another woman fatally shot
A 10-month-old girl was reported missing in New Mexico after her mother and another woman were found dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
An Amber Alert was issued for Eleia Maria Torres, according to New Mexico State Police. She is 28 inches tall, weighs 23 pounds and has brown eyes and brown hair.
The Clovis Police Department responded on Friday at about 4:30 p.m. to Ned Houk Park at 700 County Road 17 near Clovis. When officers arrived, they located two deceased women, identified as 23-year-old Samantha Cisneros and 23-year-old Taryn Allen, lying on the ground near a silver minivan, according to KCBD.
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A five-year-old girl, who police said is Cisneros’ daughter, was also found nearby with a head injury. She was transported to a hospital for treatment.
Officers found an infant car seat, stroller and a small baby bottle at the scene and, suspecting that a baby may have been present during the crime, began to search for the child.
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After speaking with family, officers learned Cisneros was the mother of the injured five-year-old girl and 10-month-old Eleia. Police believe the killer was the one who abducted Eleia.
Police said there is no suspect, but that they believed the person responsible may have left in a maroon Honda.
The incident remains under investigation.
New Mexico
Infant abducted from New Mexico park after mother, another woman found dead, police say
An Amber Alert was issued for a 10-month-old girl after the baby’s mother and another woman were discovered dead and a 5-year-old was found injured in a New Mexico park.
The Clovis Police Department issued the Amber Alert for Eleia Maria Torres on Friday after officers were dispatched to Ned Houk Park near Clovis around 4:30 p.m. in response to a 911 call about a person finding two deceased women.
New Mexico State Police said they do not have a suspect at this time but believe the person was driving a maroon Honda.
Officers found the women lying on the ground near a silver Dodge minivan, Clovis police said in a Facebook statement. They had apparently been shot.
A 5-year-old girl was found suffering from a gunshot wound to her head, according to statements from Clovis police and state police. She was taken to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, about 100 miles southeast of Clovis.
At the scene was also an infant car seat, an infant stroller and a small baby bottle, police said.
“Officers were concerned there was an infant child with the female victims when this incident happened,” Clovis police said.
Officers immediately began searching for Eleia but could not find her.
The women were identified by police as Samantha Cisneros, the mother of both children, and Taryn Allen. Both women are 23 and from Texico, New Mexico.
Authorities believe Eleia was abducted by the perpetrator “and is in immediate danger,” Clovis police said.
“Many details about this incident are unknown and under investigation, but of urgent concern is the whereabouts of Eleia Maria Torres,” state police said.
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