Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance
committees of the Legislature. LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they
are used for other purposes.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR
Sens. Trujillo and Nava/Reps. Johnson and
Anyanonu
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 02/03/2025
SHORT TITLE
Immigrant Health Care Workforce
Development
BILL
NUMBER Senate Bill 172
ANALYST Rommel
APPROPRIATION*
(dollars in thousands)
FY25 FY26
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
$1,500 Recurring General Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Relates to House Bill 15
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From
Workforce Solutions Department (WSD) Health Care Authority (HCA) University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (UNM-HSC)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Senate Bill 172
Senate Bill 172 (SB172) appropriates $1.5 million from the general fund to the Workforce
Solutions Department (WSD) to implement and administer the provisions of the Immigrant
Health Care Workforce Development Act, including hiring three FTE and providing program
grants.
Sections 3 through 5 create a primary care physician readiness pathway for medical doctors who
have completed a post-graduate training program in a country outside of the United States and
Canada and have been licensed to practice medicine in a country other than the United States or
Canada for at least three years. Physicians must be certified by the Educational Commission for
Foreign Medical Graduates (ECMFG).
Section 6 establishes a primary care residency grant to assist placement of immigrant
international medical graduates in residency positions.
Section 7 creates the "immigrant health care workforce development fund" as a non-reverting
fund. Senate Bill 172 – Page 2
Section 8 establishes an advisory committee appointed by the secretary of WSD.
Section 10 amends 61-6-6 NMSA 1978, the Medical Practice Act, adding definitions of
“qualified international medical graduate" and “underserved community”.
Section 11 adds a new subsection to 66-6-11 NMSA 1978 that allows the New Mexico Medical
Board to issue to a qualified international medical graduate a provisional license to practice
medicine valid for a period not to exceed two years. After two years under the provisional
license, the board may issue an unrestricted license if all requirements are met. A qualified
physician must have an offer of full-time employment in a New Mexico medical facility.
The effective date of this bill is July 1, 2025.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $1.5 million contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY26 shall revert to the
general fund.
WSD estimates that $1.5 million would provide four years of full operations at full capacity.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Virtually all of New Mexico faces shortages in primary care physicians. Currently there are
about five primary care physicians per 10 thousand people in New Mexico. Assuming no
redistribution of the current workforce, an additional 334 primary care physicians would be
needed for all New Mexico counties to meet the national benchmark (8.5 per 10 thousand
population).
1
Costs for medical licensing exams, ECFMG certification, and visa application fees are
significant barriers for immigrant healthcare workers, including those that have already
completed a residency abroad. Grants authorized by SB172 may support immigrant physician
residencies but the bill does not specify any grant funding for individual physicians who have
already completed their residency abroad.
SB172 does not consider the immigration status of potential recruits. University of New Mexico
Health Sciences Center (UNM-HSC) currently works only with practitioners with J1 visas,
which are sponsored by the ECFMG.
UNM-HSC notes the following regarding immigrant physician residencies:
There is no existing fast-track one-year training program for immigrants that can be
utilized, and no Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education pathway to
provide this experience. Additionally, residency programs are confined to the National
Resident Matching Program requirements, limiting the selection of immigrant applicants.
1
2024 New Mexico Healthcare Workforce Committee Report.
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=nmhc_workforce Senate Bill 172 – Page 3
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The New Mexico Medical Board will promulgate rules regarding an evaluation program for
immigrant healthcare workers. The hiring medical facility will be responsible for evaluating
nonclinical skills and standards appropriate for medical practice in New Mexico.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
Relates to House Bill 15 which would create a healthcare strategic recruitment program to
address healthcare shortage areas. HB15 seeks to recruit persons who have graduated within the
last 10 years from a New Mexico public postsecondary educational institution in a degree- or
certificate-granting educational program in a healthcare shortage field but are not currently
working in healthcare in the state.
OTHER SUBSTANT IVE ISSUES
WSD provided the following statistics:
As of 2023, 20 percent of active physicians in New Mexico completed their medical
education outside the U.S. or Canada, including 29 percent of internal medicine
physicians and 19 percent of family medicine physicians, according to the Association of
American Medical Colleges.
Nearly 10 percent of registered nurses in New Mexico are immigrants, according to the
American Immigration Council.
In 2024, 24 percent of all medical school graduates who matched into a residency
program in New Mexico completed their medical education abroad, including 28.9
percent of residents matching into primary care specialties.
HR/hj