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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Heaton

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/02/07

HB 605

SHORT TITLE Health Professionals at Declared Emergencies

SB

ANALYST Hanika Ortiz

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$.1

recurring

General fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

Workers’ Compensation Administration

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 605 provides that an unpaid health professional deployed by the Department of

Health (DOH) responding to a declared emergency shall be considered a public employee for

purposes of the Workers’ Compensation Act. HB 605 will include practitioners deployed by the

department both in-state and outside the state pursuant to the Emergency Management

Assistance Compact. The legislation explicitly includes licensed pharmacists in the definition of

“health care provider".

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The Workers’ Compensation Administration reports that there will only be a slight increase in

workers’ compensation cases resulting from this bill.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

House Bill 605 will make DOH the employer of record for purposes of workers’ compensation

coverage. Currently, there is no provision in statute for coverage when a health professional

responds to an emergency situation.

House Bill 605 – Page

2

New Mexico Serves, a DOH sponsored health professional registry, assists in identifying health

professionals willing to be deployed for public health emergencies in New Mexico and other

states affected by large-scale disasters. These unpaid health professionals make a heroic

commitment to provide services under dangerous conditions, risking their lives and health to

serve in a time of need. Injury and death benefits otherwise available to health professionals

through their employers may not be available when providing services in a declared emergency;

leaving those individuals potentially unprotected for injuries they may suffer. New Mexico law

does not currently provide a system for ensuring the availability of injury and death benefits,

making it less likely health professionals will respond to DOH requests during declared

emergencies.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The Workers’ Compensation Administration states that this bill has not been approved by the

Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DOH has developed a health professional registry to assist the department in rapid deployment of

public health and medical assistance for in-state and out-of-state declared emergencies. Because

the registry is already in place, HB605 will not result in any significant additional administrative

work for DOH staff.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The bill’s intent may be clearer if each reference to “emergency" be replaced by “state declared

public health emergency".

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

Thirty-one of New Mexico’s counties are designated, entirely or partially, as primary medical

care shortage areas by the federal government. These counties will require assistance from DOH

to ensure adequate public health services and medical care during a declared emergency.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Unpaid health care providers who are deployed by DOH during an emergency will not be

considered public employees for purposes of the Workers’ Compensation Act.

AMENDMENTS

On pg 5, (N), line 18, delete the words “behavioral health services division of the" as

DOH reflects this language is not necessary and may cause confusion.

AHO/mt