Category Archives: Articles

Medicaid budget cuts will make it cost more

The American system of paying for healthcare is absurd. It’s complex, it’s confusing, it wastes enormous resources on administration, and it doesn’t necessarily get patients the services they need. But it can be be made worse. Republicans in Congress are … Continue reading →

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Workers’ comp task force was a model for future legislation

In 1990, Raymond Sanchez took on the trial lawyers and won. Yes, that Raymond Sanchez. At the time he was Speaker of the House. Supporting that effort was none other than Marty Chavez. Yes, that Marty Chavez. Chavez was then … Continue reading →

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Cooling down the rhetoric

“We are going to back off extremist political rhetoric, encourage our supporters to follow our example, and ask the opposing party to do the same,” said nobody, after the March 31 fire at New Mexico Republican state party headquarters. In … Continue reading →

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A special session for healthcare

When the medical malpractice bill, Senate Bill 176, was killed in its first Senate committee, after more than 40 days of delay in that committee, I wondered whether that failure by itself would be enough to trigger a crisis response. … Continue reading →

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The trial lawyer argument is bogus

NOTE: since this column was written, a replacement for the hospital oversight bill was introduced and passed. In New Mexico, there aren’t enough doctors. There aren’t enough nurses. There aren’t enough hospitals, especially in small towns. There aren’t enough patients … Continue reading →

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New Mexico leaders respond to Trump radical changes

When Donald Trump was elected to his second term, it was a foregone conclusion that he would attempt to make radical changes to our federal government. But we didn’t know what he would do first or how it would affect … Continue reading →

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A workers’ comp bill for lawyers

House Bill 66 should have been a simple little bill that could have passed with little effort and no controversy. Instead, somebody threw in a zinger. The somebody was, no doubt, the trial lawyers. Actually there were two zingers but … Continue reading →

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A harder line on teenage criminals

We remember the murder of a five-year-old girl in 2023, shot in a drive-by incident that was motivated by a dispute between the shooter and another teenager. It still breaks our hearts. That is partly because the little girl, Galilea … Continue reading →

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There’s no mystery about malpractice

We can’t take action on the medical malpractice issue, said Rep. Liz Thomson, because we don’t have data. You’ve got to be kidding, I muttered. Thomson made this comment to a standing-room-only audience at a pre-legislature town hall where she … Continue reading →

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A donation-free start to the year

The anti-donation season has started in New Mexico. What a great way to start a new year! Starting January 1, leading up to the legislative session, New Mexico law prohibits legislators, several other public officials, candidates for those offices and … Continue reading →

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