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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Campos
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 3/19/2025
SHORT TITLE Medical Malpractice Task Force
BILL
NUMBER
Senate Memorial
25
ANALYST Chenier
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
No fiscal
impact
No fiscal
impact
No fiscal
impact
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From
Office of Superintendent of Insurance (OSI)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Senate Memorial 25
Senate Memorial 25 would request that the Office of Superintendent of Insurance, Department of
Health, and the Health Care Authority convene a joint task force concerning New Mexico’s
medical malpractice system. The task force would be charged with examining the medical
malpractice system in New Mexico, identifying issues in the system, and recommending
solutions to those issues in the form of a report sent to two legislative committees. The task force
would be made up of the following individuals:
Four members representing the interests of injured patients, appointed by the
governor, speaker of the House of Representatives, the president pro tempore of the
Senate, and the minority floor leader of the House of Representatives, respectively;
Four members representing the interests of health care providers, appointed by the
governor, majority floor leader of the House of Representatives, the majority floor
leader of the Senate, and the minority floor leader of the Senate, respectively;
Two members representing the medical malpractice insurance industry, appointed by
the governor and the superintendent of insurance, respectively;
The superintendent of insurance; Senate Memorial 25 – Page 2
The secretary of health; and
The secretary of the health care authority.
The task force would submit a report on its findings to the Legislative Health and Human
Services Committee and the Legislative Finance Committee by December 1, 2025.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Memorials do not contain an appropriation nor are enforceable as state law. The costs here are
connected to the time of working group members and could be considered a normal part of doing
business.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
As the memorial states, all health care providers covered by the Medical Malpractice Act are
required to carry malpractice insurance and health care providers have identified high premiums
for medical malpractice as one of the reasons for the medical provider shortage. The memorial
also states that it is essential to have a fair and equitable medical malpractice system to balance
the rights of patients with the necessity of making New Mexico an attractive place for health care
providers to practice.
EC/hj