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Advocacy

      Health care loan repayment expands to address doctor shortage – Record expansion part of strategy to add health providers in NM – March 2026

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a major expansion of New Mexico’s Health Professional Loan Repayment Program, the latest in a series of administration actions to address a physician shortage that has left 32 of the state’s 33 counties with critical gaps in care. Under the expanded Health Professional Loan Repayment Program, licensed physicians — including part-time physicians — will receive $75,000 per year for student debt relief over a four-year service commitment, for a total of up to $300,000.

Previously, New Mexico’s awards for physicians were capped at $25,000 per year over three years. The expansion represents a 200% increase in annual support and a fourfold increase in total debt relief available to participating physicians. The expansion was authorized under House Bill 66, which also directs 50% of the program’s $25 million annual appropriation specifically to licensed physicians.

More than 25 other health care licensure fields remain eligible for awards of up to $25,000 per year with a three-year service commitment. More Information

        State Legislation

House Bill 178 Sun Shades for Rural Parks & Recreation  

Earlier this year, this bill passed the House Health Committee on a unanimous vote. Michael Chang, MD, NMDDSS Councilmember, testified as an expert witness on the bill. The bill did not receive a hearing in the House Appropriations & Finance Committee, as they had already approved the budget on the house side and funding from the program was not included in it. We are looking at this issue for the 2027 session.

House Bill 99 Medical Malpractice Changes

This bill wsas signed by the governor in March 2026.  The bill helps reduce the cost of medical malpractice insurance and attract more physicians to New Mexico. The bill creates tiered caps on punitive damages — $1 million for independent providers, $6 million for locally owned hospitals and $15 million for large systems — and raises the evidentiary standard to from a preponderance of evidence to “clear and convincing,” requiring judicial review before punitive damage claims can proceed.

      AADA: 2026 Sole Federal Congressional Advocacy Priority: Protecting Medicare Access to Physicians.

• To establish a positive annual inflation adjustment.
• To replace or eliminate budget neutrality requirements to the physician payment system. Read More

Get Involved! Contact Christine Cotter, Executive Director, nmddss.cris@gmail.com

News

American Academy of Dermatology Issues First-Ever Pediatric Atopic Dermatitis Guidelines, Highlighting Prevention Strategies and Effective Treatments

For the first time in its history, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) has published guidelines of care for both the prevention and management of atopic dermatitis (commonly known as eczema) in pediatric patients. While pediatric and adult eczema share similarities, these guidelines recognize the unique safety, dosing, and patient-caregiver-clinician interactions of individuals under the age of 18.  Read More

New Mexico Medical Malpractice Reform

In March, the New Mexico Senate passed House Bill 99 (Medical Malpractice Changes) by a vote of 40–2. After the bill advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee with amendments that raised serious concerns for physicians and patient access to care, the full Senate removed those amendments on the Senate floor and passed the House-approved version of House Bill 99. The bill now heads to the Governor’s Office for signature.

Generally the bill addressed the following:

• Narrows the definition of occurrence with the goal of one incidence meaning one claim
• Prohibits lump sum payouts by the Patient Compensation Fund
• Addresses phantom damages by defining medical costs as those actual expenses paid, rather than those that are billed
• Enhances the standard of evidence to award punitive damages from “preponderance of evidence” (lowest bar) to “clear and convincing” (middle bar).
• States that a claim for punitive damages may be asserted by amendment to the pleadings only after the plaintiff has presented sufficient evidence to the court that it is more likely than not that the claim has a triable issue after substantial completion of discovery. (The goal is to prevent punitive damages from being alleged at the outset of medical malpractice allegations, which is happening in 92% of lawsuits)
• Keeps hospitals in the Patient Compensation Fund permanently.
• Establishes Punitive Damages Caps
  • Punitive Cap = 1x compensatory (+CPI) for Independent providers, Independent outpatient health care facilities and the facility’s employees, locum tenens providers and agency nurses, A hospital operated by a New Mexico resident or domestic corporation that is not part of a hospital system and the hospital’s employees, locum tenens providers and agency nurses, Employees, locum tenens providers and agency nurses of a hospital or a hospital-controlled outpatient health care facility
  • Punitive cap = 2.5x compensatory cap (+ CPI) for Hospital systems, Hospitals not owned by a New Mexico resident or domestic corporation