Healthcare

Trio Of Behavioral Health Bills Pass New Mexico Senate

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NM Senate Democrats News:

SANTA FE — Marking a major step forward in the legislature’s shared commitment to addressing New Mexico’s behavioral health and public safety crisis, a suite of behavioral health bills cleared the Senate floor Friday, now advancing to the House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support.

Senate Bill 3 (passed 37-5), the Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act, empowers a newly established Behavioral Health Executive Committee to create behavioral health regions across the state (based on counties or judicial districts). With key stakeholder engagement, Read More

Billion Dollar Behavioral Health Trust Fund Passes Senate

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By ALAINA MENCINGER
The Santa Fe New Mexican

A massive investment in the state’s behavioral health care system swept through the New Mexico Senate on Friday — and, with five weeks to go in the legislative session, in record time. 

Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth in January promised to turbo-charge the process and get a package of public safety-related legislation to the governor’s desk as soon as possible. 

If the bill numbers were any indication, the plan’s working so far. With almost 400 bills filed in the Senate alone, the trio of bills — SB1, SB2 and SB3 — was first in line. 

The bipartisan Read More

Heinrich Delivers Floor Speech Opposing Nomination Of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. For Health Secretary

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U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This afternoon, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) delivered remarks on the Senate floor amplifying the voices of New Mexicans opposing the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be the U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services.

“I hope all of my colleagues take seriously what it would mean to confirm this anti-vaccine, anti-science snake oil salesman as our next Secretary of Health and Human Services,” said Heinrich.

Heinrich began his remarks by recounting how Mr. Kennedy’s 2019 trip to the Pacific island of Samoa intensified vaccine skepticism Read More

State Department Of Health Scientific Laboratory Confirms First Measles Case Of 2025 In New Mexico

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NMDOH News:

SANTA FE — The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) is alerting Lea County residents of the days, times and locations where they may have been exposed to a person with measles.

The NMDOH Scientific Laboratory has confirmed a measles infection of an unvaccinated Lea County teenager. NMDOH is working with the patient’s family, Nor-Lea Hospital and the local school district to assure all contacts are up to date with their measles vaccinations. Two doses of measles vaccine are 97% effective against disease.  

Anyone who visited these locations on these days/times may have been exposed Read More

‘Medicaid Forward’ Plan For NM Nabs Initial Approval

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By Margaret O’Hara
The Santa Fe New Mexican

A proposal to dramatically expand state-administered health insurance coverage took a step forward Monday, after more than a year of research and public input. 

The House Health and Human Services Committee voted to advance House Bill 186, which would establish “Medicaid Forward,” greatly extending eligibility for Medicaid while capping health care premiums at 5% of a household income. 

The bill’s sponsor, House Majority Leader Reena Szczepanski, D-Santa Fe, said the proposal is a “major affordability initiative” Read More

LAPS To Host Los Alamos High School 2023 Youth Risk & Resiliency Survey Findings Feb. 25 In Speech Theater

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LAPS News:

Dr. Rebecca Kilburn, Research Professor at UNM’s Prevention Research Center and Dylan Pell, Mental Health Epidemiologist at the New Mexico Department of Health will present highlights from the Los Alamos High School 2023 Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS) findings Tuesday, Feb. 25. 

The presentation is 6-7:30 p.m. in the Los Alamos High School Speech Theater. Light food and refreshments will be provided. Attendees can park either in front of the Auxiliary Gym or Duane Smith and follow signs to the location.

These discussions are designed for anyone interested in the health Read More

Paying Out-Of-Pocket: New Mexico’s Thorny Medical Malpractice System Explained

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By MARGARET O’HARA
The Santa Fe New Mexican

Dr. Debbie Vigil didn’t plan to retire in 2023.

Born and raised in Santa Fe, Vigil started practicing as an independent OB-GYN in the city in 1989, out of a desire to serve her home state.

“I was committed to the people of New Mexico,” she said. “I’m Hispanic. I speak the language. I know the culture. That was the whole reason I went into medicine.”

But Vigil said her choice to practice in New Mexico came at a cost, specifically the high cost of medical malpractice insurance in the state, which regularly runs OB-GYNs like Vigil more than $100,000 per year in Read More

U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández Introduces Bipartisan Bill To Strengthen Public Safety In Indian Country

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U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández

STATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM), Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Sharice Davids (D-KS) introduced the bipartisan Bridging Agency Data Gaps & Ensuring Safety (BADGES) for Native Communities Act to support the recruitment and retention of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) law enforcement officers, bolster federal missing persons resources, and give Tribes and states tools to combat violence.

U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), John Hoeven (R-ND), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduced Read More