02/15/2026
This is a very thorough article on the history of some of our medical malpractice issues in the state, as well as HB99 and the obstacles that we still face. This also calls out some of the conflicts of interest that are in the senate.
New Mexico House Overwhelmingly Passes Medical Malpractice Changes
By NATHAN BROWN
The Santa Fe New Mexican
A medical malpractice overhaul that has become one of the biggest issues of this year’s legislative session flew through the New Mexico House of Representatives on Saturday.
House Bill 99, which limits the amount jurors can award in punitive damages in malpractice cases, passed 66-3 amid bipartisan back-slapping. Supporters of the bill say it will help address the state’s health care provider shortage by reining in the cost of malpractice insurance premiums and reducing risk to doctors, making them more likely to stay in or move to New Mexico.
“It reflects a thoughtful approach, not a rushed or partisan one,” said House Minority Leader Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena.
It now heads to the Senate, where some key Democratic lawmakers have expressed more skepticism about it than their House colleagues.
The bill passed after just a few minutes of debate, a somewhat anticlimactic outcome for a measure that has been discussed for years and attracted millions of dollars in advertising and campaign donations from both the medical industry in favor of changing medical malpractice laws and the trial lawyers who oppose it.
Sponsored by Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, HB 99 would limit punitive damages to around $900,000 for independent doctors, $1 million for independent outpatient clinics and $6 million for locally owned and operated hospitals — the same caps set for most compensatory damages in medical malpractice cases.
As amended by the House Judiciary Committee, it would create a higher tier for claims against large hospitals and hospital-controlled outpatient facilities, capping punitive damages at two and a half times the limits the bill establishes for local hospitals.
“This is not about shielding bad actors,” said Rep. Doreen Gallegos, D-Las Cruces. “It’s about ensuring a system that is ... capable of serving those who rely on it most.”
Medical malpractice caps have been a hot topic at the Roundhouse for the past several years.
In 2021, lawmakers significant raised the state’s caps on compensatory damages in medical malpractice cases while putting no caps on punitive damages. Another change in 2023 carved out a lower compensatory damage of $1 million for independent outpatient clinics beginning in 2024, with annual increases, rather than the cap for hospitals, which has climbed to a current limit of $6 million this year.
Supporters of HB 99 have argued punitive damage caps are a crucial step in ameliorating New Mexico’s severe shortage of doctors, while opponents have countered changes to the law would leave victims with fewer avenues to justice without meaningfully improving the provider supply.
“Across New Mexico, mounting liability pressures are impeding the recruitment and retention of physicians, ultimately threatening essential services and the ability for those services to be offered close to home,” the New Mexico Hospital Association said in a statement. “Without meaningful reform, these pressures will continue to limit access, particularly in rural and underserved areas.”
New Mexico Safety Over Profit, a political action committee largely funded by trial lawyers that opposes medical malpractice caps, said in a statement Saturday lawmakers had been “sold a dangerous false choice” sold by “corporate hospital-led million-dollar marketing campaigns” that the bill is needed to keep doctors in the state.
“As HB 99 moves to the Senate, NMSOP and the patient advocates driving this movement will stay engaged and outspoken,” Executive Director Johana Bencomo said. “We will continue to amplify victims and survivor voices in the halls of the Roundhouse and keep fighting for real patient protections and meaningful corporate accountability.”
The Senate referred HB 99 to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, an attorney who represents clients in medical malpractice cases and who has expressed reservations about passing a complicated bill without the Senate having adequate time consider it.
Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, another lawyer who has represented clients in malpractice cases, also sits on the committee.
In a statement Saturday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham reiterated her support for the measure. She said last month she is willing to call a special session if lawmakers don’t pass medical malpractice changes before the Legislature adjourns at noon Thursday.
“New Mexicans, many of whom are waiting months to see a doctor, expect the Senate to put this bill on its calendar immediately and treat it with the urgency it requires with just a few days left in the session,” the governor said.
At a news conference before the House went on the floor Saturday, House Democratic leaders touted the work they have done on health care this year — not only HB 99, but also on backfilling federal health care cuts, helping doctors with student loan payments to get them to practice in New Mexico and passing compacts to make it easier for out-of-state professionals to practice here — and urged the Senate to take up the bills.
House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, called HB 99 “a smart and targeted fix” that will help both doctors and patients.
“We want our doctors to know that they’re valued,” said House Majority Leader Reena Szczepanski, D-Santa Fe.
Chandler said she thinks HB 99 strikes a good balance but that she expects more conversations on the bill with the Senate.
“I’m happy to sit down with [Cervantes] and work through any [questions] that he has,” she said.
