OPINION: Patients deserve a seat at the table in health care reform

For groups, corporations and insurance companies that are fighting to prevent "lump sum" payments to patients like me from the Patient Compensation Fund and who are advocating to force me and other patients into yet another system of red tape, denials and delays (like an insurance company), I hope that you will read my story below.

Fifteen years ago, a routine spinal surgery changed my life forever. What was supposed to be a straightforward procedure left me paralyzed due to medical negligence. In the years since, I've had to fight, not only to rebuild my life but also for every ounce of care I now depend on to survive.

Most people assume that once a jury finds a medical corporation at fault for medical negligence, the patient's suffering is over, that justice means closure and stability. But for patients like me, the battle doesn't end with a verdict. It continues for years, sometimes decades, through a bureaucratic maze called the Patient Compensation Fund.

Because my medical care is tied to the PCF, just like with an insurance company, I have to get approval for every wheelchair replacement, every essential treatment and every piece of basic medical equipment. With each of these requests, I have to go through court filings, paperwork and months of waiting. The delays aren't just inconvenient; they're humiliating and dehumanizing. Imagine having to beg a fund to replace your wheelchair — the one piece of equipment that allows you to move, work and live — only to be told for months on end, "We'll get back to you."

I've had to go to court to force the fund to pay for medical equipment. Even now, 15 years later, I sometimes have to copy my attorney just to get a response. My attorney fought for me when no one else would. He listened, he believed me, and he made sure the system couldn't simply cast me aside. But not every patient is lucky enough to have a lawyer like that or the stamina to keep fighting a system stacked against them.

That's why I've previously testified against legislation that would force future injured patients into the same broken system that is failing me today. Eliminating the ability for patients to receive lump-sum payments traps them in an insurance-controlled fund that delays and denies care when it's needed most.

Some folks claim legislation like this will bring more doctors to New Mexico. But the truth is, this isn't about helping patients; it's about protecting the profits of billion-dollar insurance and medical corporations — the same ones that already make it impossible for patients like me to get the care we're legally owed.

When patients are left out of the conversation about "health care reform," we end up with bills written by and for the people who benefit from keeping us powerless.

Lawmakers hear plenty from insurance lobbyists and multibillion-dollar medical corporations. What they don't hear enough are the voices of the people actually living with the consequences of these policies: the people waiting months for a new wheelchair, the families maxing out credit cards to pay for the care their loved one needs, the caregivers stretched to exhaustion.

I urge legislators, the insurance industry and medical corporations not to strip harmed patients of the right to manage our own care and finances. Do not create yet another layer of bureaucracy on top of the endless red tape we already face just to meet basic human needs. Please oppose this misguided attempt to deny patients the option of receiving lump-sum payments.