Committee to vote on indigent care compromise
Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 11:00 pm | Updated: 12:30 am, Wed Feb 12, 2014.
Committee to vote on indigent care compromise
By Patrick Malone The New Mexican SantaFeNewMexican.com
A path forward for the thorny issue of how to fund indigent care at New Mexico hospitals began to take shape Tuesday in the Senate Public Affairs Committee, but the matter became heated when the bill sponsors discovered a compromise measure had hijacked their legislation.
Three competing bills — each calling for counties to raise taxes to help cover the cost of indigent patient care — had been merged with separate legislation to address the phase-out of the state’s “hold harmless” program, which provides funds to local governments to make up for revenue lost after taxes are cut on food and some medical products. That issue also involves imposing local taxes.