NM to soon know health costs

THE JOURNAL was absolutely right when it wrote in its Oct. 7 editorial that making health care prices — and outcomes — more transparent is an essential step toward “solving the more deep-rooted issues plaguing our medical system.”

Fortunately, New Mexico is poised to take a big step forward toward health care price transparency.

During the 2019 legislative session, the Legislature and governor approved funding to establish an All-Payer Claims Database (APCD) in New Mexico, similar to those in effect in 18 other states. The APCD will collect information on the actual prices paid for health care by New Mexicans. This data will then allow the Department of Health to determine the average prices paid for medical procedures by patients with different types of insurance — and make those average prices transparent to the public on the state’s fledgling health care transparency website, nmhealthcarecompare.com, along with relevant quality metrics.

With the help of legislators from both parties, Think New Mexico successfully advocated for the enactment of legislation creating the health care transparency website back in 2015. However, because the state lacked an APCD, the only health care price data that the state had access to was Medicaid payments, which are not reflective of the prices paid by the hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans with individual or employer-based insurance. This lack of data has greatly limited the usefulness of the transparency website.

With the APCD, the Department of Health will soon be able to post real, relevant pricing data on the transparency website and give every New Mexican a valuable tool to shop around for the highest quality, most affordable health care.

KRISTINA G. FISHER Associate Director, Think New Mexico Santa Fe