Lawmakers met Thursday to discuss the role of private equity in New Mexico’s health care industry. They talked about what a permanent law establishing oversight of hospital mergers and acquisitions would look like.
State Senator Katy Duhigg and Representative Reena Szczepanski, both Democrats, sponsored SB15 earlier this year, which provided temporary oversight of such mergers and acquisitions, but was limited in its scope. Szczepanski said it was intended as a band-aid in the interim.
“Before Senate Bill 15 passed, which was the one-year legislation that was passed last session, New Mexico was one of only 11 states that had no market oversight,” she said. “The need for a fair, transparent process that centers community and patient needs is essential.”
Over the last few months, the state has held a series of meetings with stakeholders and the general public to determine how to craft a permanent solution. In today’s meeting, Duhigg and Szczepanski, along with a consultant and the Superintendent of Insurance, presented the findings from those meetings.
Duhigg said when private equity firms come in and buy out struggling health care facilities, the goal is often to make a profit, which could mean cutting services or staff, endangering patient outcomes.
“These massive changes require new ways of thinking about how to ensure that patient care always comes first,” she said. “We can't turn back the clock and eliminate these business models, but with these growing trends, we need better oversight tools that focus on the impacts on patients and on patient care.”
The state plans on implementing a three-tiered strategy for oversight, with only a few larger transactions likely requiring full comprehensive review, which would also include public input.
The next steps are to post the draft legislation online and meet with stakeholders again for revisions, before circulating an updated draft to be put forward during the next legislative session.
Email OSI.Consolidation@state.nm.us to give your own comments and considerations, or to request additional information.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
