Governor signs medical malpractice bill, predicts it will deliver quick results

LOS LUNAS — With New Mexico feeling the strain of a health care provider shortage that has led to long wait times and limited services, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she's expecting changes to the state's medical malpractice laws to deliver quick results.

After signing a high-profile bill on a gusty morning in a parking lot next to an under-construction Valencia County hospital, the governor offered an aggressive prediction as to how long it might take for doctors' medical malpractice insurance premiums to drop.

"I can't control insurance companies even with that body of law, but we can certainly use the pressure of the hospitals and the independent practices being in line with national medical malpractice laws," Lujan Grisham said, before adding: "We expect to see those come down this year."

Other supporters of the bill, House Bill 99, have offered more cautious estimates, saying it might take several years for the new law's provisions to be fully felt.

The medical malpractice bill was one of Lujan Grisham's top legislative wins of this year's 30-day session, after she expressed a willingness to call lawmakers back to Santa Fe for a special session if a bill to her liking was not passed.

At a glance:

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed 11 bills dealing with health care on Friday. Here is a list of some of the endorsed bills:

House Bill 4 — Increase revenue inflow into state's Health Care Affordability Fund.

Senate Bill 101 — Extend 2024 law that provides financial support for hospitals that treat Medicaid patients.

Senate Bill 30 — Repeal existing requirement to report all induced abortions statewide.

Legislators ultimately approved the bill with bipartisan support in the session's final days, but only after several amendments that would have made sweeping changes to it were stripped from the bill during the Senate floor debate.

Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, the bill's sponsor, described it as a reasonable compromise that will bring New Mexico's medical malpractice laws more in line with those of neighboring states.

"This is an important step to improve access to health care around the state, but it's not the only step," Chandler said during Friday's news conference.

To that end, Lujan Grisham also signed several other health care-related bills into law on Friday, including a measure increasing revenue for a Health Care Affordability Fund that's been used to ensure New Mexicans avoid steep increases in their health insurance premiums.

The Democratic governor, who is stepping down from office at the end of this year, called this year's session a "health care session" and said the new laws would help fix a statewide medical provider shortage. All but one of the state's 33 counties — Los Alamos County being the lone exception — are health professional shortage areas, and the state is projected to be short more than 2,100 doctors by 2030, according to a Cicero Institute report.

Lujan Grisham said long wait times to see doctors have hampered New Mexico's economic development efforts, and said the changes to the state's medical malpractice laws could make the state more attractive to physicians in the market for a new job.

"This was an incredibly Herculean lift because you want to protect patients but you have to improve the health care access climate," the governor said.

Several Republican legislators also attended Friday's event, with Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, crediting Lujan Grisham for the bill's ultimate success at the Roundhouse.

"She's not a doctor either, but she wasn't going to accept a Band-Aid for a bullet wound," said Brantley.

Punitive damages cap key feature

In its final version, the bill signed on Friday will create a multi-tiered cap on punitive damages in medical malpractice cases that critics have said could ultimately be subject to court challenge.

While dollar amounts could increase in future years due to inflation, the cap will initially be set at about $1 million for independent physicians and clinics, $6 million for locally owned hospitals and $15 million for larger, corporate-owned hospitals.

That higher cap would apply to more than 30 hospitals statewide, including five Presbyterian Healthcare Services hospitals and five Lovelace Health System hospitals.

It could also apply to the new Valencia County Hospital, a $61 million facility set to open as soon as this fall that will be jointly operated by Lovelace and Community Hospital Corp., its CEO Tammie Chavez said.

Meanwhile, the bill will also increase the legal threshold for punitive damages to be awarded in medical malpractice cases once it takes effect on May 20.

New Mexico currently has no limit on punitive damages, which has resulted in sizable jury awards in recent years. In the run-up to this year's session, a growing number of physician and hospital groups argued unlimited punitive damages have attracted out-of-state malpractice attorneys to New Mexico and discouraged physicians from practicing here.

With the new law set to take effect in two months, Robert Underwood, the president of the New Mexico Medical Society, said Friday he's hopeful many doctors decide against leaving.

Other bills still awaiting action

With the governor facing a March 11 deadline to act on legislation approved during this year's session, some high-profile measures remain in limbo.

That includes a $11.1 billion budget bill for the coming fiscal year and a tax package that includes a $10,000 personal income tax credit for physicians who practice in New Mexico on a full-time basis.

In all, Lujan Grisham has signed 49 of the 74 bills approved by the Legislature. She has not yet vetoed any measures that have reached her desk this year.

However, that could change by next week, as any bills not signed in advance of the bill action deadline are automatically vetoed under what's known as a "pocket veto"

Dan Boyd covers state government and politics for the Journal in Santa Fe. Follow him on X at @DanBoydNM or reach him via email at dboyd@abqjournal.com.