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

SPONSOR Jennings

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/5/07

HB

SHORT TITLE Cancer Patient Navigation Program

SB 357

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)

Relates to: SB 382

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 357 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.

Senate Bill 357 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

DOH notes that the funding proposed in this bill is not contained in the executive budget

recommendation. Also, passage of SB 357 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. SB 357 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

SB 357 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/mt