Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance
committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports
if they are used for other purposes.
Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).
Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and
attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Youngberg
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
02/08/07
HB 976
SHORT TITLE Cancer Patient Navigation Program
SB
ANALYST Geisler
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$250.0
Recurring
General
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY07
FY08
FY09 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
$45.0
$45.0
$90.0 Recurring General
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates: SB 357
Relates to: SB 382
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Department of Health (DOH)
Health Policy Commission (HPC)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 976 would appropriate $250,000 from the general fund to the Department of Health
(DOH) to be spent in FY08 through FY10 to provide a cancer patient navigation program for
education about, and management of the disease. Initially, services would be for breast and
cervical cancer patients identified through the DOH Breast and Cervical Cancer (BCC) Program,
and expanded to other types of cancer as the program developed. Services would be provided
through an existing cancer service agency. Any unexpended or unencumbered funds remaining
at the end of FY 2010 shall revert to the general fund.
pg_0002
House Bill 976 – Page
2
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
DOH notes that the funding proposed in this bill is not contained in the executive budget
recommendation. Also, passage of HB 976 would require the addition of a 0.5 FTE to the DOH
Chronic Disease Bureau Cancer Section to support the program.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
DOH provides that patient navigation approaches have demonstrated potential to guide and
support patients who need assistance obtaining timely, quality cancer care. Several organizations
in New Mexico (e.g., People Living Through Cancer and St. Joseph’s Breast Cancer Resource
Center) already provide similar services.
On average, the DOH BCC Program serves 10,000 women each year. Nearly 70 women per
year are diagnosed with breast cancer, and 5 are diagnosed with cervical cancer through the BCC
Program. However, the American Cancer Society estimates that in NM 1,080 women will be
diagnosed with breast cancer and 70 women with cervical cancer in 2007. HB 976 would expand
services to all other cancer types as the program develops. It is estimated that there will be 8,030
new cases of cancer diagnosed in New Mexico in 2007 (American Cancer Society, 2007), which
would increase the number of potential participants for the proposed patient navigation program
to over 8,000 per year.
HPC provided a list of community-based support services available in New Mexico:
•
American Cancer Society – offers services in communities around the state, including some
in rural areas.
•
People Living through Cancer - a cancer survivor organization for peer support and
education throughout the state.
•
Prostate Cancer Support Association of New Mexico provides prostate cancer
education/awareness for men throughout the state.
•
The New Mexico/El Paso Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society provides some
financial assistance and support services for patients with blood-related cancers and their
families.
RELATIONSHIP
HB 976 is duplicated by SB 357. HB 976 relates to SB 382, which would appropriate $50,000
from the general fund to be spent in FY08 by the Department of Health (DOH) to provide for
comprehensive, community-based cancer patient support services including education, patient
library services, one-to-one matching with cancer veterans, survivorship support groups, and an
annual statewide survivorship conference.
GG/csd