Improving Healthcare Access

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They bluffed, but I don’t gamble with the safety of New Mexican patients OR doctors, so I called them on it, and New Mexicans won.

Last year, people tried to convince me that we had to put women’s reproductive rights and gender-affirming care at risk if we wanted to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. I know we need more providers and I’m fighting like hell to get them, but I’m not going to let states like Texas prosecute our providers and patients for getting healthcare that we’ve fought so hard to protect. So, I amended the bill to ensure that couldn’t happen, and the folks at the Compact rejected it and told us we had no choice. But I knew they were wrong, and I, alongside Senator Linda Trujillo, took them to task over the last year and now, we have a bill that allows us into the Compact AND ensures that no other state will be able to harm our patients or providers. 

In addition to that victory, this legislative session I’m fighting to expand healthcare access with bills that will:

• Provide direct tax credits to physicians actively practicing in New Mexico and give rural doctors the highest tax credit in the nation. When providers are asked why they don’t want to practice here, economics are consistently cited above things like insurance premiums. If passed, my tax credit will make New Mexico the most tax friendly states for rural physicians, while also providing real and meaningful incentives for doctors in our cities.
• Expand physician residency programs in underserved areas.
• Increase clinician faculty pay to recruit and retain critically needed doctors.
• Create the Health Training Corps to recruit physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse-midwives, and social worker mentors
• Refine and improve our loan repayment programs for medical providers to ensure that those dollars are effectively recruiting and retaining professionals who will serve here in New Mexico long-term.

And, I’m not going to sell out patients in order to put more money into the pockets of corporate hospital owners who are prioritizing profit over patient health and doctor safety. It won't increase access to care, it won’t fix the problem, and it’s not how we do business here in New Mexico.