New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico Senate Bill SB176 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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28	28	SENATE BILL 176
29	29	57
30	30	TH LEGISLATURE
31	31	-
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33	33	STATE
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35	35	OF
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37	37	NEW
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39	39	MEXICO
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42	42	FIRST SESSION
43	43	,
44	44
45	45	2025
46	46	INTRODUCED BY
47	47	Martin Hickey and Pat Woods
48	48	AN ACT
49	49	RELATING TO MEDICAL MALPRACTICE; REQUIRING PAYMENTS FROM THE
50	50	PATIENT'S COMPENSATION FUND TO BE MADE AS EXPENSES ARE
51	51	INCURRED; REQUIRING SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THE PUNITIVE
52	52	DAMAGES AWARDED IN MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CLAIMS TO BE AWARDED TO
53	53	THE STATE; LIMITING ATTORNEY FEES IN MALPRACTICE CLAIMS;
54	54	CREATING THE PATIENT SAFETY IMPROVEMENT FUND; MAKING AN
55	55	APPROPRIATION.
56	56	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
57	57	SECTION 1. Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1992,
58	58	Chapter 33, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:
59	59	"41-5-6. LIMITATION OF RECOVERY.--
60	60	A. Except for punitive damages and past and future
61	61	medical care and related benefits, the aggregate dollar amount
62	62	recoverable by all persons for or arising from any injury or
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90	90	death to a patient as a result of malpractice shall not exceed
91	91	six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) per occurrence for
92	92	malpractice claims brought against health care providers if the
93	93	injury or death occurred prior to January 1, 2022. In jury
94	94	cases, the jury shall not be given any instructions dealing
95	95	with this limitation.
96	96	B. Except for punitive damages and past and future
97	97	medical care and related benefits, the aggregate dollar amount
98	98	recoverable by all persons for or arising from any injury or
99	99	death to a patient as a result of malpractice shall not exceed
100	100	seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) per occurrence
101	101	for malpractice claims against independent providers; provided
102	102	that, beginning January 1, 2023, the per occurrence limit on
103	103	recovery shall be adjusted annually by the consumer price index
104	104	for all urban consumers.
105	105	C. The aggregate dollar amount recoverable by all
106	106	persons for or arising from any injury or death to a patient as
107	107	a result of malpractice, except for punitive damages and past
108	108	and future medical care and related benefits, shall not exceed
109	109	seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) for claims
110	110	brought against an independent outpatient health care facility
111	111	for an injury or death that occurred in calendar years 2022 and
112	112	2023.
113	113	D. In calendar year 2024 and subsequent years, the
114	114	aggregate dollar amount recoverable by all persons for or
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143	143	arising from an injury or death to a patient as a result of
144	144	malpractice, except for punitive damages and past and future
145	145	medical care and related benefits, shall not exceed the
146	146	following amounts for claims brought against an independent
147	147	outpatient health care facility:
148	148	(1) for an injury or death that occurred in
149	149	calendar year 2024, one million dollars ($1,000,000) per
150	150	occurrence; and
151	151	(2) for an injury or death that occurred in
152	152	calendar year 2025 and thereafter, the amount provided in
153	153	Paragraph (1) of this subsection, adjusted annually by the
154	154	prior three-year average consumer price index for all urban
155	155	consumers, per occurrence.
156	156	E. In calendar year 2022 and subsequent calendar
157	157	years, the aggregate dollar amount recoverable by all persons
158	158	for or arising from any injury or death to a patient as a
159	159	result of malpractice, except for punitive damages and past and
160	160	future medical care and related benefits, shall not exceed the
161	161	following amounts for claims brought against a hospital or a
162	162	hospital-controlled outpatient health care facility:
163	163	(1) for an injury or death that occurred in
164	164	calendar year 2022, four million dollars ($4,000,000) per
165	165	occurrence;
166	166	(2) for an injury or death that occurred in
167	167	calendar year 2023, four million five hundred thousand dollars
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196	196	($4,500,000) per occurrence;
197	197	(3) for an injury or death that occurred in
198	198	calendar year 2024, five million dollars ($5,000,000) per
199	199	occurrence;
200	200	(4) for an injury or death that occurred in
201	201	calendar year 2025, five million five hundred thousand dollars
202	202	($5,500,000) per occurrence;
203	203	(5) for an injury or death that occurred in
204	204	calendar year 2026, six million dollars ($6,000,000) per
205	205	occurrence; and
206	206	(6) for an injury or death that occurred in
207	207	calendar year 2027 and each calendar year thereafter, the
208	208	amount provided in Paragraph (5) of this subsection, adjusted
209	209	annually by the consumer price index for all urban consumers,
210	210	per occurrence.
211	211	F. The aggregate dollar amounts provided in
212	212	Subsections B through E of this section include payment to any
213	213	person for any number of loss of consortium claims or other
214	214	claims per occurrence that arise solely because of the injuries
215	215	or death of the patient.
216	216	G. In jury cases, the jury shall not be given any
217	217	instructions dealing with the limitations provided in this
218	218	section.
219	219	H. Except as provided in Section 41-5-7 NMSA 1978 ,
220	220	the value of accrued medical care and related benefits shall
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249	249	not be subject to any limitation.
250	250	I. Except for an independent outpatient health care
251	251	facility, a health care provider's personal liability is
252	252	limited to two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) for
253	253	monetary damages and medical care and related benefits as
254	254	provided in Section 41-5-7 NMSA 1978. Any amount due from a
255	255	judgment or settlement in excess of two hundred fifty thousand
256	256	dollars ($250,000) shall be paid from the fund, except as
257	257	provided in Subsections J and K of this section.
258	258	J. An independent outpatient health care facility's
259	259	personal liability is limited to five hundred thousand dollars
260	260	($500,000) for monetary damages and medical care and related
261	261	benefits as provided in Section 41-5-7 NMSA 1978. Any amount
262	262	due from a judgment or settlement in excess of five hundred
263	263	thousand dollars ($500,000) shall be paid from the fund.
264	264	K. Until January 1, 2027, amounts due from a
265	265	judgment or settlement against a hospital or hospital-
266	266	controlled outpatient health care facility in excess of seven
267	267	hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000), excluding past and
268	268	future medical expenses, shall be paid by the hospital or
269	269	hospital-controlled outpatient health care facility and not by
270	270	the fund. Beginning January 1, 2027, amounts due from a
271	271	judgment or settlement against a hospital or hospital-
272	272	controlled outpatient health care facility shall not be paid
273	273	from the fund.
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302	302	L. The term "occurrence" shall not be construed in
303	303	such a way as to limit recovery to only one maximum statutory
304	304	payment if separate acts or omissions cause additional or
305	305	enhanced injury or harm as a result of the separate acts or
306	306	omissions. A patient who suffers two or more distinct injuries
307	307	as a result of two or more different acts or omissions that
308	308	occur at different times by one or more health care providers
309	309	is entitled to up to the maximum statutory recovery for each
310	310	injury."
311	311	SECTION 2. Section 41-5-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1992,
312	312	Chapter 33, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:
313	313	"41-5-7. MEDICAL EXPENSES AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES.--
314	314	A. Awards of past and future medical care and
315	315	related benefits shall not be subject to the limitations of
316	316	recovery imposed in Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978.
317	317	B. The health care provider shall be liable for all
318	318	medical care and related benefit payments until the total
319	319	payments made by or on behalf of it for monetary damages and
320	320	medical care and related benefits combined equals the health
321	321	care provider's personal liability limit as provided in
322	322	Subsection I of Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978, after which the
323	323	payments shall be made by the fund.
324	324	C. Payments made from the fund for medical care and
325	325	related benefits shall be made as expenses are incurred.
326	326	[C.] D. Beginning January 1, 2027, any amounts due
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355	355	from a judgment or settlement against a hospital or outpatient
356	356	health care facility shall not be paid from the fund if the
357	357	injury or death occurred after December 31, 2026.
358	358	[D.] E. This section shall not be construed to
359	359	prevent a patient and a health care provider from entering into
360	360	a settlement agreement whereby medical care and related
361	361	benefits shall be provided for a limited period of time only or
362	362	to a limited degree.
363	363	F. In a malpractice claim in which punitive damages
364	364	are awarded, the court shall divide the punitive damage award
365	365	and enter judgment as follows:
366	366	(1) twenty-five percent of the punitive damage
367	367	award shall be awarded to the prevailing party; and
368	368	(2) seventy-five percent of the punitive
369	369	damage award shall be awarded to the state. All amounts
370	370	awarded to the state shall be remitted to the state treasurer
371	371	to be deposited into the patient safety improvement fund.
372	372	[E.] G. A judgment of punitive damages against a
373	373	health care provider shall be the personal liability of the
374	374	health care provider. Punitive damages shall not be paid from
375	375	the fund or from the proceeds of the health care provider's
376	376	insurance contract unless the contract expressly provides
377	377	coverage. Nothing in Section 41-5-6 NMSA 1978 precludes the
378	378	award of punitive damages to a patient. Nothing in this
379	379	subsection authorizes the imposition of liability for punitive
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408	408	damages where that imposition would not be otherwise authorized
409	409	by law."
410	410	SECTION 3. A new section of the Medical Malpractice Act
411	411	is enacted to read:
412	412	"[NEW MATERIAL] LIMITING ATTORNEY FEES.--An attorney shall
413	413	not contract for or collect a contingency fee for representing
414	414	a person seeking damages in a malpractice claim in an amount
415	415	that exceeds:
416	416	A. twenty-five percent of the dollar amount
417	417	recovered, if the recovery is pursuant to a settlement
418	418	agreement and release of all claims executed by all parties
419	419	prior to the start of a trial or an arbitration proceeding; or
420	420	B. thirty-three percent of the dollar amount
421	421	recovered, if the recovery is pursuant to settlement,
422	422	arbitration or judgment that occurs after a trial or
423	423	arbitration proceeding begins."
424	424	SECTION 4. A new section of the Medical Malpractice Act
425	425	is enacted to read:
426	426	"[NEW MATERIAL] PATIENT SAFETY IMPROVEMENT FUND--
427	427	CREATED.--
428	428	A. The "patient safety improvement fund" is created
429	429	in the state treasury and shall be administered by the
430	430	department of health. The patient safety improvement fund
431	431	consists of distributions, appropriations, gifts, grants,
432	432	donations and receipts from punitive damage awards in medical
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461	461	malpractice claims. Money in the patient safety improvement
462	462	fund shall be invested by the state treasurer, and income from
463	463	investment of the patient safety improvement fund shall be
464	464	credited to the patient safety improvement fund. Money in the
465	465	patient safety improvement fund shall be expended only as
466	466	provided in this section.
467	467	B. Money in the patient safety improvement fund is
468	468	subject to appropriation by the legislature to the department
469	469	of health for the purposes of improving patient safety and
470	470	health care outcomes. All payments made from the patient
471	471	safety improvement fund shall be made by warrant of the
472	472	secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers
473	473	signed by the secretary of health or the secretary's authorized
474	474	representative. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance
475	475	remaining in the patient safety improvement fund at the end of
476	476	a fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain to the credit
477	477	of the patient safety improvement fund."
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