Health Care

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.

In its annual Honesty and Ethics poll, Gallup has named nursing as the nation’s most trusted profession. In light of New Mexico’s persistent medical professional shortages, nurses say this should be a call to action to support the nursing workforce with more investments to keep patients safe and healthy.

In late December, President Donald Trump’s administration announced how much all 50 states would get under its new Rural Health Transformation Program, assigning them to use the money to fix systemic problems that leave rural Americans without access to good health care. Now, the clock is ticking.

The New Mexico Department of Health announced Thursday a dog in Grant County tested positive for rabies. It’s the eighth animal in the state with a confirmed case this year. Although rabies is uncommon, it’s still one of the deadliest known viruses.

On Friday, before hosting a roundtable discussion about the effects of the federal budget bill’s impact on New Mexico’s health care, Senator Martin Heinrich got the story straight from the horse's mouth. The meeting was at First Nations Community Healthsource, where Heinrich talked to patients about what losing Medicaid would mean for them.

At a roundtable discussion hosted by Democratic U. S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (second from right) on Friday, experts, providers and more discussed the potential impacts to Medicaid, which covers 40% of New Mexicans, by what's known as the "Big Beautiful Bill." Heinrich says 96,000 people could lose health coverage and Troy Clark, president of the New Mexico Hospitals Association said six to eight hospitals might be forced to close if federal funds dry up.

On this episode we talk about the promises and threats from private equity ownership in health care. New Mexico has the highest proportion of private equity- owned hospitals in the country and we’ve been named most at risk of further private equity takeovers. That's why lawmakers recently passed an oversight bill on hospital acquisitions and mergers.

New Mexico is facing a health care worker shortage. This year, legislators had the opportunity to pass bills making it easier to recruit and retain these professionals, but most legislation failed.

A trio of health care bills passed through their first committee Friday with broad bipartisan support. They’re all aimed at expanding access to health care by making it easier for some providers to move into the state. House bills 79, 81 and 82 would add New Mexico to a growing list of states allowing providers to practice as long as they’re licensed in any other state within the compact.

The 2025 legislative session kicks off January 21st and think tank Think New Mexico has a set of recommendations that aim to improve the state’s health care system. KUNM spoke with founder and executive director Fred Nathan about New Mexico joining a compact among states that would bring in more doctors to address professional shortages and other measures that would protect patients.