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SENATE MEMORIAL 46

LEGISLATURE

- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -

FIRST SESSION

, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

Steve Komadina

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

TO CONSIDER A COORDINATED, COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF INNOVATIVE

HEALTH CARE REFORM INITIATIVES.

WHEREAS, health care expenditures continue to impact state

and federal budgets as well as the cost of goods and services;

and

WHEREAS, every individual carries a responsibility for

that individual's health care management through wellness and

prevention measures; and

WHEREAS, chronic problems such as obesity, hypertension,

diabetes and depression are often preventable or at least

treatable at an early stage; and

WHEREAS, wellness and prevention programs can lead to

lifestyle behavior changes that are key to decreasing health

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care costs; and

WHEREAS, use of tobacco products continues to impact

health care costs adversely while tobacco settlement proceeds

are used on initiatives other than tobacco research and

cessation programs; and

WHEREAS, employers and employees continue to pay rising

insurance premiums, often to offset uncompensated care costs

and lower public program reimbursement levels; and

WHEREAS, tax incentives can provide initiatives for

employers, employees and individuals to obtain appropriate

insurance for broad or specialized coverage as well as to

increase coverage and thus spread the risk among larger groups

of insured individuals; and

WHEREAS, the number of health care profession graduates

from New Mexico colleges and universities has not kept pace

with the attrition of health care professionals or with the

demands of a growing population; and

WHEREAS, primary care clinics throughout the state provide

an invaluable service for patients with limited or no access or

coverage in rural and underserved areas; and

WHEREAS, consumer-driven, market-based health care reform

efforts provide initiatives that can be more readily

implemented and tested than public programs requiring extensive

legislative or rulemaking procedures; and

WHEREAS, information technology and telecommunications

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offer an ability to streamline billing; claims processing;

reimbursement; medical records storage and retrieval; and

electronic prescriptions, databases and registries; as well as

health care delivery and interfaces to remote and underserved

areas; and

WHEREAS, the joint state-federal medicaid program

continues to take a disproportionate amount of state and

federal budget expenditures without a corresponding improvement

in the health care profile of covered individuals;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE

OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative health and human services

committee be requested to review health care reform from a

broad perspective that includes wellness and prevention

measures and initiatives; early diagnosis and treatment of

chronic diseases; tax incentives to assist more employers and

individuals in purchasing insurance; expansion of medical

school, nursing school and other health care profession schools

to increase the number of graduates entering the health care

work force; funding for primary health care clinics that

provide primary and preventive care to uninsured persons and in

underserved areas; market-based reforms that provide consumers

with choices that meet their respective needs; development of

information technology resources that increases consistency of

information, claims and reimbursement among payers, providers

and patients; medicaid reforms that recognize the cost-

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effectiveness of programs for women and children while ensuring

that the most vulnerable persons, the elderly and disabled,

receive assistance through innovative and effective programs;

and, in conjunction with the tobacco settlement revenue

oversight committee, the study of tobacco-related illnesses and

efforts to reduce tobacco use, particularly among the youth;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative health and

human services committee be requested to provide an appropriate

forum to address these issues in a manner that allows the

committee to consider and recommend broad and coordinated

reform initiatives and work in conjunction with the tobacco

settlement revenue oversight committee to address tobacco-

related issues; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the legislative health and human services

committee and the tobacco settlement revenue oversight

committee.

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