New Mexico’s Health Care Authority Secretary Kari Armijo presented an update on the state’s access to both physical and behavioral health care at a Legislative Finance Committee meeting in Taos on Wednesday. Despite an increase in the number of behavioral health providers and greater patient utilization, the state is seeing worse outcomes in a few areas.

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.

New research from the University of New Mexico advocates for adding more psychologists in schools and expanding their roles to promote safety. KUNM spoke with UNM Law School Professor and report author Maryam Ahranjani about how education systems could benefit from moving away from heavy policing focusing on mental health.

The Albuquerque City Council unanimously approved issuing nearly a quarter of a million dollars in industrial revenue bonds for a development in the Sawmill area near Rio Grande Boulevard and I-40. The bonds will allow for some major tax breaks for the developer, and were passed without concessions requested by both community leaders and the general public.

For the first time in years, overdose deaths have been declining recently after reaching a peak of about 111,000 in 2022. However, advocates are worried about a backslide on that progress as federal grants are lost, and agencies like the the National Institutes of Health are crippled by drastic funding cuts.

U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan hosted a forum Wednesday with Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto spotlighting the local and national effects of President Trump’s tariff policies. The forum featured almost a dozen speakers including business owners and economic experts, who discussed the ways tariffs have contributed to economic instability, increased costs for working families and benefited special interests.

Feeding America has released their annual, Map the Meal Gap study, that takes a look at food insecurity risk from 2023. According to the data, New Mexico ranked fourth in childhood hunger. Now with several funding cuts from the federal level to both assistance programs and food banks, the Roadrunner food bank told KUNM what this could mean for local hunger relief.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation released their annual Kids Count Data Report Monday. New Mexico remains last in child wellbeing and ranks at or near the bottom for several other crucial categories like education and health. KUNM Taylor Velazquez has more on the challenges that persist for the state’s kids and families.

As the school year wraps up, the New Mexico Public Education Department is reporting increased graduation rates with last year’s class having the highest number of graduates in the last fifteen years. KUNM has more on initiatives that helped students secure their diplomas.