New Mexicans Want Affordable, Portable Health Coverage

Town hall also calls for cost-effectiveness and solutions to the state’s shortage of medical professionals

Albuquerque, NM, May 7, 2007— New Mexico should establish incentives to attract and keep medical professionals, and individuals should be able to choose among a range of affordable and portable health coverage options. In addition, the healthcare system should undertake a number of reforms to become more cost-effective. These are some of the major themes that came out of New Mexico First’s statewide town hall on healthcare, held May 3-5, 2007, on the campus of the University of New Mexico. The 18 recommendations developed during the town hall were not finalized until participants reached consensus, or overall agreement, during the three-day deliberation.

The town hall, entitled “Strengthening New Mexico Healthcare: Coverage, Access and Economics,” brought together participants representing every aspect of New Mexico healthcare; rural and metropolitan healthcare professionals, advocacy groups for the uninsured, tribal leaders, the healthcare industry, as well as public and private sector officials.

“We had such an outstanding cross-section of New Mexicans come together to discuss and debate solutions to healthcare problems facing our state,” said Heather Balas, president of New Mexico First. Balas went on to say, “The town hall experience is so rewarding when such diverse groups bring their expertise to the table and agree upon thoughtful, workable recommendations to take to state leaders.”

In addition to the items mentioned above, participants produced a wide range of priority recommendations including:

Personal responsibility by individuals through wellness and prevention activities
Increased use of technology (electronic medical records, tele-health, health outcome tracking, and simpler health program enrollment)
Improved community health services (including cultural competency training, home health care, and trauma services)
Improved and portable coverage for Native Americans
Cost-efficiency throughout the healthcare system

Balas said the recommendations of the town hall will be advanced to policymakers and private sector leaders by an implementation team that will be chaired Bill Johnson, a former Cabinet Secretary with the New Mexico Department of Human Services and former CEO of UNM Hospital. The team will be made up of participants from the town hall.

New Mexico First was co-founded by Senator Pete Domenici and Senator Jeff Bingaman in 1986 to advance citizen participation in democracy by addressing policy issues. Since then, New Mexico First has convened more than 40 town halls that engaged more than 6,000 citizens in public policy issues ranging from taxes to water, health care, education, economic development, tribal relations and federal spending.

The independent nonpartisan organization is led by a statewide board of directors made up of 33 business and civic leaders.

Click here for additional information on the town hall, including the final report.