Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham presented a wide ranging inter active personal hour long report on her government agenda to the New Mexico Orthopedic Society meeting Friday June 13. This is my summary of the presentation. For more details see the link to synopsis and another link to the Governor’s description online.
Governor Grisham generally described the process of governmental actions with the observation that most issues and proposed solutions to problems have at least two perspectives that need to be balanced. There are many stakeholders. Money is a huge
part of every issue and proposed solution. Overall, there are MANY positive aspects of
life in New Mexico and the State is in a generally very good financial position.
The general issues she addressed included public safety/crime and education. One of the big problems with crime is the concept of “competency.” It makes sense that someone who is mentally incapable of functioning who commits a crime ideally should not be treated the same as someone in full control of the faculties. However, in current judicial practice the typical successful defense legal strategy is to find perpetrators “incompetent” which results in their being released. This creates a revolving door situation of “catch and release”. Something like 3800 individuals in NM commit 60,000 offense/year but each time they are brought up on charges they fail to meet the legal requirement for competency and are released. She is promoting efforts to tighten the state’s legal criteria to “competency”.
The Governor’s education agenda extends from Pre-Kindergarten programs to expanding medical residencies and everywhere in between. For additional details see the attached links noted above.
She focused on other medical issues affecting the state including Doctor recruitment and Medical Malpractice Reform. The Governor has been very supportive of medical education in NM including existing and future programs. (See attached). The state has an under-utilized program to financially support new physician practices in NM, particularly outside the I-25 corridor. This program, called ABC, provides funds to help hospitals and new practices to
acquire necessary technology (radiography, electronic medical records,…) to support the practice. This lowers the barriers to entry into physician practices.
Medical Malpractice Reform is an ongoing issue in NM. From 1976 until 2022 we had state legislation that caps medical malpractice judgments at $600,000. In 2022 the legislature voted to raise the cap to $750,000 with an annual inflation escalator that currently has raised the cap to almost $850,000. The issue typically pits Trial Lawyers against Physicians and Hospitals with almost diametrically opposed positions. Annually there are legislative attempts to change Medical Malpractice Act in NM either to make it better or worse from a physician’s perspective. The Governor’s position is that the Act should be amended to make it better from society’s perspective. The arguments presented by lobbyist for physicians and lawyers became so heated and vitriolic as be non-productive and she has banned them from the Governor’s office! She is, however, still interested in engaging in constructive conversations with physicians and lawyers and encourages us to contact key legislators involved in this topic. Governor Lujan’s position is that an increase in the cap to account for inflations is probably appropriate. The argument is that the legislature decided a cap of $600,000 was appropriate in 1976. The effect of inflation is not reflected in that cap but should be since a dollar today does not buy as much as a dollar in 1976. Therefore, an increase in the cap to reflect the effects of inflation is “appropriate”. The physician perspective is that medical malpractice costs are already too high and keeping physicians from practicing in the state and any change that increases medical malpractice costs is bad for the state.
There are other issues with medical malpractice where the Governor’s position is more in line with the physician perspective. Venue shopping is the legal strategy of bringing a case in a location that is more favorable for the plaintiff (like Gallup) that where the care was provided (for example Albuquerque). There are proposed changes to limit venue shopping that the Governor supports. 3 other issues are: A, B, C.
This summary represents my understanding of what she said. If you would like more information on any of these topics you can click on the links to a broader synopsis of her presentation that I have prepared and/or the Governor’s own website that more directly describes her positions, perspectives, priorities, and agenda.
SYNOPSIS (Outline)
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Agenda 2025
I. Non-medical Issues
II. Medical issues
I. Non-medical Issues
A. Crime/Public Safety
B. Education
1. Pre K
2. K-12
3. College
4. Medical school(s)/Other
5. Post graduate medical education (residency)
C. CYFD
D. Economic development
E. Permanent fund
F. Budget
G. Other
II. Medical Issues
A. Malpractice Act changes
B. Physician Recruitment
C. Medical Education
D. GRT on medical care
