NM 2025 60 Day Legislative Session: Year of the Wood Snake
The opening day of the NM 60-day Legislative Session began at noon on January 21, 2025.
The Year of the Wood Snake begins on January 29, 2025.
May the Wood Snake association of growth, flexibility and creativity bring positive growth of acupuncture by acupuncturists in both NM and the USA.
Resource Links of research/news/articles submitted by our own Dr. John Scott, DOM for DOM awareness:
NM State Health Exchange (the ACA)
Healthcare Consolidation Oversight Act SB15 (2024 Regular Session)
The act was signed by the Governor into law 3/1/2024. It was sponsored by Representative Reena Szczepanski and Senator Katy Duhigg. Reena was the House Dem Whip in 2024 and has just been elected the Caucus Leader for the House Dems. She represents HD47, formerly represented by Brian Egolf, at that time the Speaker. Many of you may be in her district.
https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=S&legType=B&legNo=15&year=24
You will notice that the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance (OSI) was tasked with conducting a community input process and bringing a more comprehensive bill forward in 2025. Their report is here, dated 11/22/2024 PD
The OSI public input process is described in detail on its website and offers links for those who wish to be kept informed: https://www.osi.state.nm.us/pages/misc/health-care-consolidation
Shortage of Healthcare Professionals in NM (added by PD 1/7/24)
NM 2025 Legislative Session will hear from work done by Think New Mexico on the availability of health care professionals and recommendations to cure its current crisis.
Here is a link to the page where you will find the button to download their report: https://www.thinknewmexico.org/policy-reports/
The first five pages introduce Think New Mexico. The Health Professionals material is on pp. 6-58. For context, you will recall the work to limit payday lending rates (from 175% to 35% annualized). The successful legislation was led by Susan Herrera and was greatly aided by a massive paper on the subject by Think New Mexico. They pick a different critical topic for each session. This year it is the shortage of health care professionals. PD
Markey (Massachusettes) Bill re: private equity ownership
Here is the Senator’s proposed legislation. Click through the buttons to dig deeper PD
https://www.markey.senate.gov/healthoverwealth
This is the background study that Sen Markey presented to the Committee. It became the basis for his proposed act. It is dated 9/11/24, an anniversary of another date in infamy. PD
And finally, the other Senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren, introduced this act with Senator Markey, referencing the same crisis in their state and explaining it all the way only Senator Warren can. It is dated 6/11/24. PD
New Mexico Malpractice Laws (existing and in the pipeline)
https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/LHHS%20112822%20Item%2012%20Medical%20Malpractice%20Act.pdf
Health Security for New Mexicans Act and other NM Bills
From John:
The Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign is a large and diverse coalition that believes that the best way to control rising health care costs and ensure access is for New Mexico to create its own health plan that guarantees affordable, comprehensive coverage, freedom of choice of provider, and simplifies our costly administratively complex …
In 2021, the New Mexico Legislature allocated funding to the Office of Superintendent of Insurance to oversee the Health Security Plan design process. The Superintendent began the design process by contracting with expert consultants to start researching some of the key issues we need more information about in order to design the best Health …
Health Security FAQs. + Why do we need the NM Health Security Plan? While hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans have gained health coverage since passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), there are still problems to address: increases in premiums, deductibles, and copays; rising costs for prescription drugs; and smaller networks that limit patients’ choice of health care provider are …
The Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign, a diverse coalition of 170 organizations and thousands of New Mexicans, has developed a homegrown solution. The Health Security Act would enable New Mexico to create its own health plan, guaranteeing comprehensive coverage and provider choice (no more networks) for most residents.
There have now been three studies regarding the Health Security Plan: the Lewin analysis in 1994, the Mathematica analysis in 2007, and the KNG analysis in 2020. … In fall 2006, Governor Bill Richardson’s Health Coverage for New Mexicans Committee commissioned a study of three health care reform models. Two of the models were based on the …
Report on “Health Security for New Mexicans” Corrales Comment, Aug. 8, 2020 “With a financial impact analysis in hand, New Mexico legislators may be prepared to make a decision on a long-proposed near-universal health care program during their 2021 session. The Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign, led by Corrales’ Mary Feldblum …
The Need for Reform. As of August 2020 (the latest data we have), an
New Yorker Article(s)
This is the basic article regarding the dominance of insurance profits in healthcare economics from the New Yorker (12/12/24) PD
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2024-in-review/the-gilded-age-of-medicine-is-here
Here is a related article, again in the New Yorker, only four days later (12/16/24) PD
Thom Hartmann Podcast/website (I revised the spelling of his last name. PD)
(Thom Hartmann’s blog 3/29/24 PD)
Time Magazine Article on Medicare from 2013
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Gb31x9Vyp5NQCYWjc6aGweLVwY8csEkF/view?usp=drive_link
Today’s (1/7/25) blog on same subject from Paul Krugman (PD)
A Final Item added today (1/7/24) by PD for your reading pleasure: Michael Moore on our topic
https://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/a-manifesto-against-forprofit-health-insurance-companies/
Many are also interested in Indivisible chapter meetings in their towns to be more aware.
Please note: This article expresses the opinions and research of the author, and does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of NMSAAM, the NMSAAM BOD, or the ASA.