Let’s Talk New Mexico, 2/6/25, 8am: In the State of the State address in mid-January Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called for easing medical malpractice insurance expenses by having the state step in with its own insurance offering. Malpractice insurance in New Mexico surged in recent years with the second highest increases in the nation. She said it’s part of her strategy to grow our health care provider workforce by making those professions more affordable. The New Mexico Medical Society applauded the Governor for the suggestion.
Some senators are taking a different approach to reform with SB 176, which could limit payments to attorneys in malpractice suites, redirect portions of awards to a fund to improve care, and change the way payments for care are made after a malpractice incident.
On the next Let’s Talk New Mexico we’ll discuss how problems with malpractice insurance affect providers in the state and their patients, along with possible policy solutions.
Should the state step in to help provide insurance for health care providers? Would you support systematic changes that could lead to lower insurance premiums, like lower caps for awards on lawsuits? Email letstalk@kunm.org, leave a voice message by clicking the link below, or call in live at (505) 277-5866 Thursday morning at 8.
Guests:
- Kristina Fisher, Associate Director, Think New Mexico
- Ezra Spitzer, patient advocate and malpractice victim
- Carmela Starace, J.D., Patient Compensation Fund Advisory Board Member, Office of the Superintendent of Insurance
- Dr. Angelina Villas-Adams, President, New Mexico Medical Society
Related reading:
"NM Legislature likely to see another session of hot debates over medical malpractice," New Mexico Political Report
"New Mexico’s malpractice gold rush," Searchlight New Mexico
"Hospitals say New Mexico's rising malpractice payout cap puts insurance out of reach," Santa Fe New Mexican
"How to Solve New Mexico’s Health Care Worker Shortage," Think New Mexico
We got so many emails and comments about this show that we could not get into one hour, so we're putting them here.
New Mexico's failure to cap lawsuits is the primary reason for our lack of providers. Having worked for Medical Malpractice lawyers and multiple hospitals in New Mexico, I have seen the abuse of malpractice lawsuits. Look at the billboards as you go down the highway or the large office buildings bought by medical malpractice lawyers. The money won in these suits benefits the lawyer first while creating hardships for our state by creating a state that does not support providers. Do we have more medical errors in this state? No.
Additionally, these medical malpractice lawyers primarily support Governor Lujan's campaign and support. I believe this is public information. The deep-rooted ties that medical malpractice lawyers have within the governor's office and the offices of many state representatives are incestuous and do not serve the state of New Mexico.
- Jennifer Walker
I am a senior citizen residing in Ilfeld, New Mexico. In 2018 I experienced complications from a routine spinal surgery which resulted in significant, permanent nerve impairment to the lower half of my body.
Due to the limits on medical malpractice compensation in this state, I will receive minimal payment for these damages, and nothing for my pain and suffering. Patients like myself who have been harmed by medical negligence should receive fair financial compensation to assist with rebuilding their lives. Corporations such as hospitals should be held fully accountable for their lack of proper care and it's effect on our citizens. Protections should be reinstated for patients, not increased for corporations and hospitals.
I agree that we need to draw more doctors to New Mexico and do more to retain them. There are ways to do this where the well-being of our New Mexico citizens is respected.
- Margot Massey
I wish to share a personal story of how medical malpractice has robbed my husband, John Yaeger, as well as myself and our family of the amazing life we were living.
Six years ago, and only six months into his retirement after 25 years of service to the state of New Mexico, my husband nearly died (multiple times) due to a botched thrombectomy (removal of a brain clot). He needed 5 surgeries to survive, including a craneotomy (removal of part of his skull) and removal of part of his brain. He has been left paralyzed on the entire right side of his body and is unable to speak. The hospital wasn't forthcoming with the mistake and it wasn't until later, while filing for disability, one sentence was found in a two inch stack of medical records that revealed that a mistake had been made. So, not only did they make an avoidable mistake, changing my very active husband's life, my life and the lives of our children, they weren't going to admit it and be held accountable for any of it.
We need real solutions to the provider crisis, not policies that protect the profit making entities and harm patients further. New Mexico has a corporate healthcare crisis, not a medical malpractice crisis. Lowering patient compensation limits won’t bring doctors to New Mexico—it will only protect insurers and corporate hospitals from accountability. The real healthcare problem is unsafe staffing levels, corporate-driven provider burnout, and a lack of investment in healthcare workforce recruitment and retention. The 2021 and 2023 reforms were already a compromise between patients, hospitals, and doctors. Rolling back these protections will leave harmed patients without the means to rebuild their lives. Which is heartbreaking after losing so much already.
Thank you for your time.
Robin Yaeger on behalf of my husband, John Yaeger
Thank you for addressing this important topic. It is always very difficult to hear painful stories that happen to patients and we all care about the suffering of these families. What we don't hear are stories of patients who suffer because of lack of access to healthcare. As a primary care physician I don't think the community or patients understand how much impact there is to patients daily in New Mexico due to doctors being unable to afford practicing in our state. I would like to hear more stories about patients who are affected by LACK of care.
It is imperative that this system is changed and that the environment of malpractice enables appropriate compensation to patients, without overcompensation of attorneys and without bankrupting hospitals and entire practices.
-Heather
Another factor that limits the number of doctors, is INM’s [sic] monopoly.
40 other states being to a medical compact. Like a drivers licenses, certification in one state enables the doctor to practice in the others.
New Mexico does not belong to the compact.
-Klienemann
I’m an emergency medicine physician practicing in Albuquerque. This discussion hits close to home because emergency medicine is particularly vulnerable to malpractice claims.
There are three additional points I would like to make:
1. Physicians in New Mexico may feel obligated to practice “defensive medicine” because of the awful malpractice climate in this state. This leads to increasing medical costs and other negative outcomes for patients and communities.
2. I participate in the NM medical review board. I’ve seen numerous frivolous cases brought before the board by attorneys who are seemingly casting a wide net to see what sticks. These attorneys see opportunity in NM because of our attorney friendly malpractice climate here in this state. These lawsuits negatively affect physicians, health systems and our entire state.
3. We are at a disadvantage here in recruiting emergency physicians because we are the second worst state in the country in protecting physicians. Applicants see this from the get-go.
These are only three additional points I would like to make. Also, as a longtime KUNM member, I would request a physician voice earlier in this conversation when discussing these sensitive issues on air.
Respectfully,
-John Lissoway, MD
Every year, we talk about malpractice being the big issue for physician shortages. In mind, we are missing the mark.
1) Why on earth are we not talking about increasing the number of physicians trained in this country?
See this data and please discuss.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_physicians
2) Also, the malpractice discussion is totally missing the accountability issue brought up. It appears that lawsuits are the only way to get any accountability. Why is the medical board and community not doing more to hold physicians accountable for real malpractice?
Doctor's lives are miserable all over the country. This insurance issue is distracting us all from the fundamental issues of BROKEN health care in this country. Our legislature needs to quit entertaining the insurance industry and dig in to look at how we have structurally broken our system with "managed" care making medicine a for profit venture. Deal with the real issues, people. Get the capitalists out of here.
-Moira
New Mexico, we are being gaslit about the reasons for physician shortages in our state.
I am an Ob/Gyn who practices in rural New Mexico. I was born and raised in this state, and completed my training at UNM. EVERY SINGLE DOCTOR I've spoken with agrees that the medical malpractice landscape is one of the top reasons causing physicians to leave and making it near impossible to recruit physicians to this state. Nearly 4 in 5 of the physicians who are completing their residencies at UNM, those who historically are most likely to find jobs nearby, are instead finding jobs in different states. Medical malpractice has turned The Land of Enchantment into a hostile environment for healthcare providers, and as a result is a less safe place to be a patient who needs medical care
"We have an insurance problem." I've heard this statement made by several trial lawyers and legislators in the last several weeks. I keep asking myself, "What does that mean??" And what proposals do you have to address the "insurance problem"? New Mexico, the problem with skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance premiums is of our own making, it's the result of legislation passed in 2021. Since those changes to the NM Medical Malpractice Act were put in place, many (especially rural) hospitals and providers lost their insurance coverage all together and then were forced to pay 2-3 times as much for coverage with a new company. Many physicians in private practice had no choice but to close their practices and become hospital employed, or worse, chose to leave New Mexico altogether. No insurance company will standby and lose money -- they will increase premiums or refuse to offer coverage. Just look at what homeowners insurance companies have done in areas in New Mexico and California prone to wildfires. Scapegoating insurance companies is a distraction technique being used by the trial lawyers. Insurance companies are doing exactly what we should expect them to do.
However, instead of admit that our "insurance problem" is due to having the second highest per capita rate of medical malpractice rates in the country, the trial lawyers and many legislators (who are disproportionately lawyers themselves, and receive large campaign donations from trial lawyers) pivot to talking about private equity owned hospitals. Interestingly, this was not something trial lawyers were focused on until they needed a tactic to distract us from the report published by the non-partisan group Think New Mexico. Smoke and mirrors. Pay attention New Mexico -- when faced with a threat to their pocketbooks, the trial lawyers found a different scapegoat. There are definite problems with corporate ownership of healthcare, and the state should be doing all that it can to ensure that the care that is provided across New Mexico, especially the rural areas, is based on patient need and provider expertise. But this is a problem much bigger than New Mexico, hospitals across the country are being bought up by private equity firms. What is unique to New Mexico, exacerbated by the 2021 legislation, is that medical malpractice lawsuits threaten to further hamper our ability to access medical care when we need it.
Those of us still practicing medicine in this state, especially the rural areas, are here because we love New Mexico and are committed to serving and caring for our communities. Usually, our voices are respected when we explain how we can help a patient feel better and be healthier. Now we are asking that our voices be respected when we explain how to best address New Mexico's lack of access to healthcare providers.
-Dr. Megan
I'm a physician in Albuquerque. I am pleased to see this important topic being covered, as our governor has correctly stated, medical malpractice is a big problem in our state, and reform is desperately needed. I have seen a doubling in my premiums over the last five years. All the cases I have personally seen recently have wrongly charged punitive damages. This is a source of grave concern for doctors. We are threatened to lose all that we have worked for, often for an unwarranted case or a situation out of our control. It is not reasonable to think that you can build an industry that inherently contains risk without affording basic legal rights to the members of that industry. The terrible medical malpractice environment in this state is a major reason my friends and colleagues are leaving, and there are many more headed for the exits. The situation is dire, and it needs to be addressed urgently.
-Dr. Trent Taylor
While I applaud the Governor for acknowledging the shortage of physicians and the high cost of medical liability insurance in NM, creating a state-run insurance program is not the solution. We need comprehensive medical liability reform that focuses on compensating patients fairly, caps attorneys’ fees, and doesn’t allow allegations of punitive damages without any burden of proof. The medical malpractice amendment (HB 75) passed in 2021 has lead to NM’s malpractice gold rush (as reported by Searchlight NM) and is a major contributor to why we can not recruit or retain physicians in NM.
-Gabrielle Adams, MD