44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO ESTABLISH A TASK FORCE TO DEVELOP AN ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE PROVIDER DESIGNATION.

WHEREAS, New Mexico provides and funds multiple programs aimed at improving the distribution of health professionals in rural and underserved areas of the state; and

WHEREAS, all or part of thirty-one of our thirty-three counties remain classified as medically underserved; and

WHEREAS, the capacity of most rural areas of New Mexico to sustain adequate health care systems is limited, as indicated by the facts that twenty-one of our counties are designated "frontier" with populations of fewer than seven persons per square mile and that at least twenty percent of our population is without health insurance; and

WHEREAS, there are a wide variety of health service delivery systems, including solo practitioners, private group practices, community health clinics, hospital-based clinics and various state public health services; and

WHEREAS, a survey of health professionals indicates a high degree of variability in factors to consider in recruiting and retaining those types of practitioners in rural and underserved areas, including practitioners' satisfaction with their working circumstances; and

WHEREAS, other states have effectively utilized a system of designating certain health care providers as essential for health care service access, and have provided them with various benefits to stabilize the provider community in those rural and underserved areas;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the primary care bureau of the department of health establish a task force to develop operational aspects of an essential community health care provider designation in order to improve the continuing access to health care in rural and underserved areas; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force consider various eligibility criteria, including the designation of primary care health professionals as essential community health care providers in order to promote the most efficient and cost-effective means of maintaining a stable delivery system; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force investigate every avenue for providing benefits, incentives and assistance, including state-funded recruitment and retention initiatives, indigent-care reimbursement, tax deductions and exemptions, differential reimbursement under state programs and contracts and special consideration of contractors providing health care in rural and underserved areas; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that careful consideration be given to requirements and responsibilities of providers in exchange for designation as an essential community provider, including services provided to medicaid recipients and medically indigent persons; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that attention be paid to integration and coordination of an essential community provider system with other state recruitment and retention efforts and programs aimed at improving geographic access to health services; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force recommend methods of measuring the effectiveness and impact of such a program; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force coordinate with the New Mexico health policy commission and other health planning entities in its work; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be sent to the secretary of health and to the legislative health and human services committee by October 1, 1999.