New Mexico governor signs healthcare bills into law
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NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed seven healthcare-related bills into law. The bills were approved by lawmakers in the 2024 legislative session.
“Delivering quality healthcare to New Mexico’s population requires a tailored approach that takes into account rural communities, New Mexicans benefiting from Medicaid, and the tens of thousands of public employees in our state,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said in a press release. “These are bills that are going to positively impact a vast swath of New Mexicans.”
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One of the bills, House Bill 7, aims to reduce health insurance costs for small businesses and low-to-moderate-income New Mexicans. The bill sets a distribution to the state’s existing Health Care Affordability Fund, which helps provide insurance to New Mexicans.
“Since it was created in 2021, the Healthcare Affordability Fund has made our state healthier by helping tens of thousands of New Mexicans attain affordable health insurance,” House Majority Whip Reena Szczepanski (D-Santa Fe) said in a press release. “House Bill 7 will sustain the Healthcare Affordability Fund so that workers continue to get the coverage they need, small businesses can offer the benefits their employees deserve, and we can keep cutting New Mexico’s uninsured rate, which will reduce costs for everyone.”
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The governor also gave her signature of approval to Senate Bill 14, which further establishes the state’s Health Care Authority, a restructuring of the state’s Human Services Department that began in 2023.
“Every New Mexican deserves to have access to health care. Building off our efforts last year to establish the Health Care Authority, this measure will now help in streamlining the collaboration between the Department of Health and the Health Care Authority in the sharing of data, and ultimately improve health care access and affordability across the state,” Sen. Elizabeth Stefanics (D-Bernalillo, Lincoln, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Torrance and Valencia Counties) said in a press release.
Michelle Lujan Grisham also signed Senate Bill 17, which unlocks federal match funding for hospitals in New Mexico. Senate Bill 161 has also been signed by the governor – that bill offers temporary financial assistance for independent rural hospitals.
The governor approved House Bill 33 (requiring annual reporting of prescription drug pricing), House Bill 165 (requiring reimbursements to community-based pharmacists for Medicaid-related ingredient costs), and Senate Bill 135 (changing requirements for how insurers can push patients to use non-preferred medication over more expensive options).
