From the New Mexico Medical Society:

SANTA FE — The New Mexico Medical Society (NMMS) is encouraged that HB 99 has advanced out of the House Health & Human Services Committee, reflecting bipartisan recognition that New Mexico must act to stabilize access to healthcare and address the growing physician shortage.

At the same time, the Medical Society is deeply concerned about an amendment adopted in committee that leaves a considerable number of healthcare organizations exposed to uncapped punitive damages.

Protecting access to care requires a coherent and consistent medical liability framework that applies across the healthcare system in order to maintain insurer participation, retain providers, and ensure patients can access care when they need it.

“Every community deserves a healthcare system that patients can rely on,” Angelina Villas-Adams, MD said. “The amendment adopted in the House Health & Human Services Committee picks winners and losers by treating providers differently, which makes the healthcare system less stable and causes access to care to suffer, especially in rural New Mexico.”

Carving out punitive-damage exposure for certain providers while shielding others undermines system stability and ultimately puts patients at risk, particularly in rural and high-risk settings.

We appreciate the leadership of Representative Christine Chandler, the bill’s sponsor, including her research into medical malpractice frameworks in states such as California and Colorado that are widely viewed as national benchmarks. We also recognize Representative Gail Armstrong’s emphasis on the bipartisan importance of HB 99, as introduced, and its significance for rural communities and clinics.

The New Mexico Medical Society looks forward to continued engagement as HB 99 moves forward and urges lawmakers to address the punitive-damages issue so the bill can fully achieve its goal: protecting patients by ensuring a stable, accessible healthcare system for all New Mexicans.