New Mexico governor signs major medical malpractice bill into law

Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New MexicanThe Santa Fe New Mexican

LOS LUNAS

A medical malpractice reform that was years in the making is now the law of the land in New Mexico.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday signed into law a series of bills aimed at increasing health care access and affordability, after the subject emerged as a major theme of the 2026 legislative session, which concluded Feb. 19.

House Bill 99, which will impose new caps on punitive damages in medical malpractice cases in hopes of driving down the cost of medical malpractice insurance for providers, was among the most-debated bills considered during the session.

“This, in fact, was a health care session,” Lujan Grisham said during the bill-signing ceremony. “Congratulations to New Mexico, [which] has all of the components to make this the best place to access, receive and provide care in America.”

HB 99 was the result of an “incredible journey,” said sponsor Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos. The bill stemmed from more than a year of tense legislative discussions, with behind-the-scenes negotiations ramping up in the weeks ahead of the 2026 legislative session.

Supporters of the bill have said the caps on punitive damages are necessary to reduce doctors’ insurance premiums and lower the cost to practice in the state, which could help New Mexico recruit and retain physicians. A Legislative Finance Committee survey published in January found about two-thirds of New Mexico physicians were considering leaving the state, with the most common reason for leaving being punitive damages associated with medical malpractice.

Opponents argued HB 99 would leave malpractice victims with less of a path to justice without improving the state’s supply of providers.

The final version of HB 99, Chandler said, “is a balanced approach that will improve the climate for our doctors while preserving avenues to justice for our patients who are harmed.”

Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, said the passage of HB 99 would meaningfully improve access to health care for her constituents, from Pie Town to Las Cruces. Brantley was a critical voice in favor of HB 99 in the Senate, successfully leading a push on the Senate floor to strip amendments made by the Senate Judiciary Committee — changes she called a “hijacking” of the bill.

“New Mexicans deserve the relief that’s going to come from this bill,” Brantley said during Friday’s bill signing. “And quite frankly, New Mexicans deserve more stories and more examples of [the] true bipartisan work that went to get it here today.”

A bipartisan team of lawmakers joined Lujan Grisham in celebrating the bill signing at the future site of Valencia County Hospital in Los Lunas — an acute care facility now under construction and scheduled to open by the end of the year.

Lujan Grisham also signed into law House Bill 4, which increases revenue distributions from the state Health Care Affordability Fund. The fund is one of the main tools New Mexico uses to reduce the cost of premiums for individual plans purchased through BeWell — the state’s insurance network established by the federal Affordable Care Act.

The change comes at a critical time: Congress let some federal tax credits lapse last year for patients with Affordable Care Act coverage, resulting in skyrocketing premiums. While costs for coverage through BeWell have risen in New Mexico, state funding has shielded patients from the full effects through the Health Care Affordability Fund.

In a similar policy change, Lujan Grisham on Friday signed Senate Bill 101 into law. The bill repeals a sunset clause in the Health Care Delivery and Access Act, maintaining financial support for eligible hospitals that care for Medicaid members.

Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 306 as well, which eliminates facility fees — extra charges separate from clinician fees that are intended to cover clinic overhead costs but which can add hundreds of dollars to patients’ health care bills — for preventive outpatient care, vaccinations and telehealth services starting in 2027.

The facility fees will still apply for inpatient and emergency care, and at hospitals and clinics in rural areas — including Los Alamos Medical Center, Presbyterian Española Hospital, Holy Cross Medical Center in Taos and Alta Vista Regional Hospital in Las Vegas, N.M., according to the fiscal impact report.

The bills Lujan Grisham signed into law Friday join dozens of others from the 2026 that have already earned her stamp — or signature — of approval.

Notable bills already signed by the governor include a massive road bonding package and a prohibition on local governments in New Mexico contracting with the federal government to detain undocumented immigrants and others with pending civil immigration cases.

She also signed legislation allowing the state to join interstate compacts to ease the process for doctors and social workers from other states to become licensed in New Mexico — though lawmakers stopped short of getting eight more health care worker compacts over the finish line. Lujan Grisham said Friday she was “really disappointed” the remaining compacts didn’t make it all the way.

Lawmakers framed Friday’s bill signing as the first of many steps they plan to take to continue to ease access to health care in the state.

“We can’t stop until we’re able to ... recruit, attract, retain health care providers in the state,” said Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil, D-Albuquerque. “This is a good start, governor, but we still have a lot of work to do.”