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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Cordova

DATE TYPED 3-7-05

HB 684/aHAFC

SHORT TITLE Gambling Addiction Study Including Suicide

SB

ANALYST Collard

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

Minimal

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Department of Health (DOH)

Gaming Control Board (GCB)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HAFC Amendment

The House Appropriations and Finance Committee amendment to House Bill 684 removes the

appropriation. DOH will still be responsible for all things listed under administrative implica-

tions, thus there will likely be a minimal impact to the department to carry out these items.

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 684 appropriates $110 thousand from the general fund to DOH for the purpose of

conducting on-going studies of the incidence of suicide (deaths and attempts) and bankruptcies

that involve gambling debt and compulsive gambling behavior. The funds would allow for gath-

ering data, under the auspices of DOH in coordination with law enforcement agencies, medical

personnel and bankruptcy court. The bill requires DOH to report its findings to the legislature

every five years, beginning in FY07.

House Bill 684/aHAFC -- Page 2

Significant Issues

Two populations are defined among which gambling addiction would be investigated: suicide

deaths and attempts and persons who filed for bankruptcy in New Mexico. DOH indicates the

bill may benefit by clearly defining case definition for the study and implementation.

The bill also assumes that DOH has authority to “adopt rules” for suicide investigations. It re-

quires access to bankruptcy information that DOH indicates is currently not available.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $110 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06 shall revert to the

general fund.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DOH indicates the appropriation for this study would need to support interviews of family mem-

bers of the deceased to determine whether a gambling addiction contributed to the suicide;

attendance at meetings with creditors and the Panel of Trustees appointed by the US Bankruptcy

Court for the District of New Mexico; and data abstraction from the bankruptcy “Statements of

Financial Affairs” (including listing of losses) to determine if the victim had gambling debts.

DOH states the bill would require the expertise of staff of the Epidemiology and Response Divi-

sion and the Behavioral Health Services Division’s Community Program Bureau. The multiple

startup requirements for each topic in the study in FY06 mandated in the bill would require more

than one dedicated FTE.

The department also indicates it will be challenging for medical personnel and law enforcement

to ascertain whether deceased persons were problem gamblers. Data would have to be gathered

from family, if present and consenting. Unless gambling addiction has been clinically diagnosed

and documented by a practitioner, additional training may be required for data collectors since it

is not standard procedure to explicitly identify gambling involvement or addiction.

In addition, medical personnel would have to be specifically instructed to determine problem

gambling among hospitalized persons who have attempted suicide since emergent health condi-

tions would routinely be attended first.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

DOH indicates gambling addiction and compulsive gambling is a diagnosable illness defined and

recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. The bill asks DOH to define what consti-

tutes a compulsive or problem gambler; there would have to be dialogue around the purpose of

the study and validity of findings, given the case definition differs from clinical medical illness.

DOH notes page 1, section B line 24 requires DOH “to adopt rules requiring that all suicide

deaths or attempted suicides identified by law enforcement agencies or medical personnel be in-

vestigated to determine if the victim had gambling debts or compulsive gambling behaviors that

may have been a factor in the cause of the suicide or the attempted suicide”. The jurisdiction or

House Bill 684/aHAFC -- Page 3

authority to investigate deaths and the factors contributing to death is currently located in the Of-

fice of Medical Investigator, which is attached to the University of New Mexico and not within

DOH.

Finally, DOH notes bankruptcy court petitions do not require the identification of gambling

loses.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

DOH data shows there is a growing need to understand the impact of gambling in New Mexico.

The New Mexico Council on Problem Gambling received 3,814 calls to its crisis help line in cal-

endar year 2003. The intent of the bill is to reveal, examine and track the latent and tragic results

of problem gambling.

DOH also indicates suicide attempts among problem gamblers are much more frequent than

among the general population, and more common with gambling addiction than with other addic-

tions. Several studies show that problem gambling is associated with suicide and suicidal idea-

tion and risk of suicide can be compounded by substance abuse.

The Office of Medical Investigation (OMI) operating out of the University of New Mexico

Health Sciences Center is the entity charged with the responsibilities for investigating any death

due to violence (including suicide) not the Department of Health. Responsibility and funding for

establishing procedures and training relating to the determination of gambling related deaths

should be given to OMI.

New Mexico is a closed record state for birth and death certificates (NMSA 1978 24-15-27),

which means that death records are not public records. The state registrar has the discretion to

release information from death records to federal state, local and other public or private agencies

for statistical or administrative purposes (NMSA 1978 24-14-28 D) but procedures would have

to be established to link all the necessary pieces of information from the different agencies in-

volved in order to establish that a death was a suicide and related to gambling.

KBC/yr:njw