Health Security Funding in Place; Ready to Move Forward!
$575,000 for the Health Security planning and design phase is included in the junior budget bill (SB 377), which is currently waiting to be heard on the House floor. From there the bill goes back to the Senate for concurrence, and then on to the governor for her signature. Changes are not usually made to "Junior," so we're pretty confident that the funding is secure. This means we're ready for the design phase!
With less than a week left in the legislative session, it's clear that the Health Security Planning & Design Board Act (HB 203) is not going anywhere. And that's okay.
Remember, this also happened in 2019 with the Health Security cost analysis: the bill didn't pass, but the legislature appropriated funding that allowed Health Security to move forward.
Under the provisions of the $575,000 appropriation in Junior, the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance is charged with three interconnected tasks:
establish an advisory council
seek technical advice and assistance
research and design a system of comprehensive health coverage for New Mexico
We're looking forward to working with HB 203's sponsors—and the legislators who allocated their Junior funds to the Health Security planning and design process—and with the Superintendent's office to get things going!
Another Bill of Interest: Global Hospital Budgets Task Force (SB 351)
It's late in the game, but the Global Hospital Budgets Task Force bill (SB 351), sponsored by Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, is finally on the move. It passed Senate Health & Public Affairs on Friday. (The New Mexico Hospital Association spoke in support of the legislation at the hearing.) The bill is now in Senate Finance.
Global budgets are a system under which hospitals receive a predictable and sustainable amount of revenue to cover their costs. With a guaranteed income stream, hospitals can focus on community needs rather than the most lucrative procedures (such as outpatient care and high-volume surgery).
While global budgets are a component of the Health Security Plan, they can be a part of any health care system. In fact, Maryland and Pennsylvania have received sizable grants from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to create global budget systems. Why shouldn't New Mexico take advantage of this grant funding as well?
Given the financial problems of so many New Mexico hospitals, exacerbated by COVID-19, SB 351 proposes the creation of a Global Hospital Budgets Task Force to study global budgets and to develop a demonstration project that is tailored to our geographically large and mostly rural state. The project would be open to rural hospitals that voluntarily choose to participate. The goal is to apply for available CMS funding for the project.
If your senator sits on the Senate Finance Committee, you may want to call them and ask for their support on SB 351.
