The threat of loss of services, access to care in rural New Mexico
On Sept. 21 the New Mexico Rural Healthcare Network (NMRHN), made up of eleven of New Mexico’s independent/government hospitals in rural New Mexico provided education and awareness to our state’s legislative leaders.
The NMRHN’s goal was to educate and make aware our legislative leaders in N.M. the risk facing rural healthcare. The risk of loss of services, and for some, the potential loss of access to care in rural N.M. All rural hospitals present agreed that we are all in the same storm with the risk we are facing, but some of us are in blow up rafts, while others are in ships.
According to a study from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, at least 40% of rural U.S. hospitals are at risk of shutting down in the near future. Some of the key factors in different counties as to why some are in blow up rafts is the low volumes of population and the payor mix within the counties. As you can see from the below graft, the two largest payers in N.M. are Medicare and Medicaid where rural hospitals are either losing dollars or breaking even if they are lucky. Commercial payor volumes are low and unable to sustain the rural hospitals.
According to the NMHA, 64% of New Mexico Hospitals had operating financial losses in 2022. Over half of US hospitals had operating financial losses in 2022 (AHA April 2023).
New Mexico rural residents are at risk of losing access to healthcare services because of the following challenges:
Medicaid supplemental program / uninsured patients
Hospital Access Payment (HAP) / Targeted Access Payment (TAP) legislative changes—Payments were made on volume-based models and therefore hurt the smallest, rural hospitals that have small volumes.
Medical malpractice insurance premiums and lack of insurance companies willing to provide coverage in N.M. Gross Receipts Tax—Small rural hospitals don’t have enough Medicaid patient volume to offset the cost of the tax revenue loss. Most rural hospitals have experienced lower patient volumes (and revenues) following the pandemic inflation, costs for staff, supplies, utilities and drugs have all increased dramatically.
Workforce—New Mexico providers (including physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants are among the oldest in the U.S. Nearly the entire state is considered a Healthcare Provider Shortage Area (HPSA). Nursing and all other positions are facing shortages
NMRHN is requesting to work with our New Mexico legislative leaders for a solution to save rural services and access to care in New Mexico.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: The threat of loss of services, access to care in rural New Mexico
