New Mexico has made strides when it comes to protecting patients from surprise medical bills and aggressive debt collectors.
In 2019, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the into law. It aims to eliminate expensive medical bills when a patient receives care by an out of network hospital or provider 鈥� the patient is expected only to pay the amount they would be charged if receiving care from within their network.
Another law from 2021, the , would stop hospitals from using aggressive debt collectors to go after those with lower incomes, either taking them to court or reporting to their creditors. However, lawsuits have been filed against debtors since law has been active.
These problems are exacerbated by New Mexico鈥檚 population of , leading hospitals to and to patients using Medicaid still .
On this week鈥檚 Let鈥檚 Talk New Mexico, we鈥檒l discuss whether the new protections are working as intended and what steps could further reform medical billing. Have you received a surprise medical bill? What was the process to resolve it? Email letstalk@kunm.org, leave a voice message by clicking the 鈥渞ecord鈥� button below, or call in live Thursday morning at 8.
Guests:
- Melissa Barbara, recipient of a surprise medical bill
- Pamela Blackwell, Director of Government Relations and Communications,
- Alex Sanchez, Chief Experience Officer, (BeWellNM)
- Arika S谩nchez, Healthcare Director,
- Heather Korbulic, Vice President of Policy and Communications,
