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

SPONSOR Stewart

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/27/06

HB 241

SHORT TITLE Produce Telenovela Health Care Drama

SB

ANALYST Earp

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$46.0

Non-Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

Department of Health (DOH)

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 241 would appropriate $46,000 from the general fund to the University of New Mex-

ico Board of Regents for the University Hospital to develop and produce a telenovela health care

drama to be shown in health care clinic waiting rooms statewide. The appropriation is available

for expenditure in fiscal years 2006 and 2007. The bill contains the emergency clause.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $46,000 contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall

revert to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This proposal was not included amount the special program funding requests to HED by the Uni-

versity of New Mexico for review. Consequently, this proposal has not been included in the

House Bill 241 – Page

2

HED funding recommendations for fiscal year 2007.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

UNM would bear the administrative responsibility for developing and distributing the requested

telenovela to health care clinics throughout the state.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

HED notes that language barriers and cultural differences can have an impact on the quality of

health care provided and negatively influence the management of chronic disease, which has a

negative impact on the overall health of many Hispanic patients who do not speak English. In the

past decade the Hispanic population in the United States has increased greatly and in the next

decade the Hispanic population is expected to the second largest ethnic group in the United

States. The development and production of video that can educate the Spanish speaking popula-

tion on the importance of preventing and addressing health care issues in the early stages of a

disease or aliment can greatly reduce health care costs and provide people with a better quality of

life.

The Department of Health notes that there are many Hispanic residents and immigrants waiting

to see medical providers in public health clinics across the state. Many Spanish speaking indi-

viduals are familiar with telenovela dramas as they are frequently shown on national Spanish

language television stations. This bill proposes to use the telenovela format to convey health

care messages to Spanish speaking patients waiting to see medical providers.

The Health Policy Commission notes that federally-funded clinics are required to provide lan-

guage appropriate information to non-English speaking patients as of Aug. 11, 2000 when Presi-

dent Clinton signed Executive Order 13166. This bill would enhance current initiatives that may

be in place to address Spanish speaking clients.

DKE/yr