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

SPONSOR Rehm

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/08/08

HM 60

SHORT TITLE

Additional Federal Funding for Uncompensated

Indigent Patient Care; a study

SB

ANALYST Hanika-Ortiz

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY08

FY09

FY10 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

HSD

undetermined

General

Fund

(SCHIP)

Total

undetermined

Federal

Medicaid

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Memorial 60 requests the Health Policy Commission to conduct a study of options for

securing additional federal funding for uncompensated indigent patient care in New Mexico

hospitals.

The Memorial provides for the following:

•

New Mexico hospitals bear a substantial financial burden in providing uncompensated

care to indigents.

•

Adequate and equitable funding of hospitals is of critical importance to all New

Mexicans.

•

Increased federal assistance in funding hospitals would relieve the burden that New

Mexico hospitals bear in providing uncompensated care to indigent persons.

•

Increased federal assistance in funding hospitals would also relieve the disproportionate

burden that New Mexico hospitals bear in providing care to illegal aliens by virtue of

being a border state.

•

Increased federal funding for uncompensated care is critical at a time, such as this one,

when uninsured patients often receive care in the state's hospital emergency rooms and

hospitals, and the hospitals, in turn, request appropriations to offset the cost of providing

care to those who cannot or will not pay.

House Memorial 60 – Page

2

•

The current funding of the university of New Mexico hospitals is inequitable, in that

funding comes from a mill levy on Bernalillo county property owners but the hospitals

serve indigent patients from throughout the state.

The Memorial resolves that the task force present recommendations and conclusions to the

appropriate interim legislative committees no later than December 1, 2008.

The Memorial further resolves that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the

executive director of the New Mexico health policy commission, the secretary of human

services, the secretary of health and each county indigent hospital and county health care board.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Agencies will need to provide staff to participate in the study.

Costs to the GF of increased enrollment in programs funded either through unspent Title 21

(SCHIP) funding; or, any other project approved through federal waivers is unknown but could

be significant.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Memorial requests that the task force study hospital funding options; and, the expansion of

the existing federal waiver for the state coverage insurance program.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The Memorial will require that the task force comprise nine members appointed by the executive

branch, including the Medicaid director or the Medicaid director's designee, a representative

from the university of New Mexico hospitals, a member from the New Mexico health policy

commission and members with expertise in Medicaid funding and hospital funding.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

A federal waiver for SCHIP has allowed funding for adults in the State Coverage Insurance

(SCI) program, which has been an important component in current state efforts to expand

insurance. However, continuation of the funding source is uncertain and there is continuing

disagreement at the federal level about whether SCHIP funds should be used for adults. To date

there is no resolution of the issue as Congress extended SCHIP funding under current law.

In 2005, New Mexico counties collected $52.9 million for County Indigent Funds primarily

through gross receipts taxes (HPC’s County Financing of Health care 2006 report). Statewide,

the Sole Community Provider Fund has grown from $19 million to $130 million in 2005.

The state Human Services Department administers the fund for the U.S. Centers for Medicare

and Medicaid Services.

House Memorial 60 – Page

3

AMENDMENTS

Suggest changing the term “illegal aliens" to “undocumented persons" (Pg1, line 24) in the

Memorial.

Suggest removing the term “uncompensated" in the title and body of the bill.

AHO/bb