The New Mexico Senate passed an interstate medical compact bill unanimously on Friday to allow doctors licensed in other states to more easily practice here.
The issue of New Mexico joining several medical compacts this session is a priority not only to lawmakers but for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham as she advocated that all compacts be approved.
State Sen. Linda Trujillo (D-Santa Fe) acknowledged the issue was contentious last session. After review, she said several components have been added to Senate Bill 1 or the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Act, this session.
One is the issue of subpoena power and the lack of guidelines for other states requesting information for investigations into physicians. Trujillo explained language was added so subpoenas would go through the New Mexico Medical Board.
“And then make sure that we had language in the Medical Board’s subpoena power in their actual statute that says that they have to adhere to our laws specifically in relation to women’s health care and gender affirming care,” said Trujillo.
Another area the bill addresses is immunity. SB 1 states that individuals are immune from personal liability unless they act outside of the scope of their responsibilities. The medical compact commission, which will be created by the bill, is only liable to the extent of New Mexico’s Constitution and state laws, and the commission will also have the authority to compensate for harm or loss and also defend practitioners.
The Governor will appoint two members to the Medical Licensure Compact commission. One member being a medical doctor and one member being an osteopathic physician.
Trujillo said an important part of this bill is the budget to adequately build the technology to bridge New Mexico’s system to work with the compact system, so as soon as the bill passes the Medical Board can start its process.
According to the Fiscal Impact Report, the ask to establish the compact is $300,000 in nonrecurring and $160,000 in recurring funds to continue work like issuing licenses and legal services.
The New Mexico Medical Board projects that SB 1 would increase physician license applications by 10-15%, resulting in a potential revenue of $53,000 to $79,000.
This would be slightly different from the existing nurse compact New Mexico has already joined.
“So the nursing compact is licensed in one state, practice in any state that's within the compact,” she said.
With the physician’s compact, a doctor who is licensed in one state has the authority to buy into the physician's compact.
“And then you have the authority to get kind of an expedited license in another state,” she said. “You still have to go get that license in the other state. You still have to pay that licensing fee.”
Doctors also have to pay insurance for whatever additional states where they practice in addition to their home state.
Trujillo said by joining the compact, New Mexico can expect more physicians practicing here. It takes an average of 3 to 6 months to fully enter into the compact.
“There could be as much as a 3% increase in physicians. I tend to think that it’s probably going to be in our neighboring states, from Texas, Colorado, and Arizona,” said Trujillo.
After the Governor’s State of the State address, Republican lawmakers had their own thoughts on the issue of joining medical compacts.
State Sen. Nicole Tobiassen (R-Bernalillo), another sponsor of SB 1, said that joining this compact and utilizing technology will help address the problem of health care access for rural New Mexicans. But she said it’s only a placeholder unless malpractice reform is passed.
“When there is no cap on punitive damages it leaves every doctor in the state, unless they are with a big institution, absolutely vulnerable,” said Tobiassen.
The compact bill now heads to the House for introduction.
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