hospitals

A new emergency bill has brought forward by House Democrats to replace the defeated senate bill that would have provided oversight of hospital mergers, acquisitions and private equity takeovers. Emergency Bills, also known as "Zombie Bills" are blank slate legislation that was introduced before the cut-off date that was left mostly blank in order to give bills that fail to pass, or are tabled, a second chance.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced Tuesday that his office is investigating allegations that a Las Cruces hospital has denied care to cancer patients with low incomes or who are uninsured.

Hospitals in New Mexico are facing financial challenges, with concerns about profitability and sustainability. During a legislative health and human services committee meeting Monday, the committee discussed ways to better manage and hold hospitals accountable.

Officials will be hosting the first of a series of meetings seeking public input on a permanent law providing oversight of new hospital mergers, acquisitions and consolidation.

Hospital acquisitions are growing across the country, and that’s leading to higher prices for patients. Many of those deals involve private equity, which often makes cuts to certain care to drive up profits, or religious organizations that might refuse types of care that they don’t support.New Mexico is at an especially high risk for deals that could limit health care. It also has a new law that could curb that.

A recent study named New Mexico the top state in the country at risk of harm by private equity and points to health care in the state as especially vulnerable to potentially predatory actions.

Hospitals have to be transparent about their prices by posting them online. That’s because of a Hospital Price Transparency Rule that went into effect a few years back. In New Mexico, fewer than half of hospitals are following that rule.

Several bills that would help keep New Mexico’s rural health care providers in business are heading to the governor.

A bill to give the state a say in hospital acquisitions passed the Senate on Friday afternoon. Proponents argue this will help keep rural hospitals in business.

This week on Let's Talk New Mexico we're talking hospital staffing shortages as the omicron variant pushes COVID-19 case numbers to record levels.