New Mexico’s malpractice gold rush
In
UCGH faces many of the same pressures that are straining rural hospitals throughout
But in
"I've looked for insurers in
After scouring the globe and being rejected by more than 40 insurers, Chavez was able to find two companies willing to cover the hospital at the eleventh hour. The price tag for the cheaper of two available policies:
Now, once again, Chavez needs to find another plan when the hospital's current coverage expires at the end of this year. If insurers hike their prices yet again, the cost of coverage will likely close the hospital, the county's only health care clinic, and a school-based health center — all of which are staffed by UCGH.
"There is not another hospital in
"Heart attacks will not make it to the next town if we're not here," Chavez says. "Stroke victims won't make it. Trauma victims won't make it. I don't know how to put it any more bluntly: Without this hospital, people will die."
Residents of
Rural populations also tend to be older, with more complex health needs. Lower-income patients covered by New Mexico Medicaid plans often can't get coverage in
There are non-medical risks, too: In New Mexico's northeast, UCHG is the county's largest employer and the linchpin of the region's economy, which is otherwise dominated by ranching and farming. According to
"We'd be looking at a cascading kind of event," Kiesling says. "We have an aging population here that needs health care, and without it people might leave. We'd have a drop in population. We'd lose the largest employer in this area. I mean, it would be really bad."
Malpractice gold rush
Higher-than-average malpractice insurance premiums in
But those costs surged even higher after the legislature's 2021 regular session, with passage of a bill that dramatically raised the caps on malpractice liability from
"The state doesn't cap attorney's fees or punitive damages, and it allows lawyers to file multiple lawsuits over a single incident of alleged malpractice," Nathan says. Plaintiffs in a successful suit can get paid in one lump sum, and because there are no caps on attorney's fees, lawyers can keep as much of that money as they can negotiate with clients. "These sorts of factors have resulted in some extremely large verdicts against hospitals," Nathan adds.
Several recent cases illustrate the financial stakes. In
"We are an attraction for law firms to come in and do business in
Searchlight could not independently verify the numbers of malpractice cases filed by out-of-state firms, because most law offices are registered as local businesses with the
Still, it's clear that the number of cases is substantial: During a two-year period beginning in
This flood of litigation has meant that malpractice insurance companies have consistently lost money in
"I do believe that if a hospital makes a mistake, then the patient should get restitution," says
One particularly troublesome consequence, Green says, is the effect that
"It's already hard to recruit physicians to rural hospitals," she says. "It's almost impossible. And now, when I interview physicians from other states that I'm trying to recruit, even those that are right out of residency are telling me they cannot come to
"We desperately need a cardiologist, another general surgeon, another couple of primary care physicians, and they just won't come," Green adds. With physicians, and especially specialists, in short supply, many patients in the area end up traveling to
The shortage has stressed hospital systems across
One of that group's first orders of business was to slash midwife salaries by 30%, according to employees who spoke to Searchlight. Many midwives and obstetricians left as a result, scrambling patients' birth plans and leaving a substantial gap in services. This fall, staffing problems had become so severe that the hospital had no OB-GYN on site for a 24-hour period — a problem the hospital attributed to staffing "hiccups," the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
In explaining the outsourcing decision to the New Mexican, Christus Chief Operating Officer
Christus did not respond to Searchlight's requests for comment.
A slew of factors are driving the staffing crisis in the state's health care system.
"The whole country needs more doctors right now," says
The state government's record on the issue is mixed: While many analysts and hospital administrators believe the legislature's decision to drastically increase caps on damages was a catalyst for today's runaway insurance costs, some lawmakers have taken steps to keep hospitals afloat, at least in the short term.
During
Some think those measures don't go far enough.
"There are many additional steps that the state should take," says
———
Searchlight
Proxy Statement (Form DEF 14A)
Americans are furious over health care. Is this an Occupy Wall Street moment?
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News