Sen. Martin Hickey

Maddy summarySB 271 revises New Mexico's Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) membership to 16 total members (eight from the House and eight from the Senate), reducing the previous total. It adjusts the appointment process to ensure proportional party representation in each chamber and requires at least one minority member from each house. The bill also clarifies vacancy procedures and alternates leadership roles between the Senate and House every two years. Introduced in the 2025 legislative session, the bill was postponed indefinitely in June 2025.

Maddy summarySB 78 amends New Mexico law to establish an independent practice role for certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), allowing them to provide anesthesia care without direct physician supervision in most settings. This directly affects CRNAs and patients in New Mexico healthcare facilities, removing prior requirements for physician collaboration in anesthesia care. The bill defines "independent role" as performing all anesthesia-related actions (including prescribing certain drugs in emergency, surgical, or perinatal settings) without oversight, while clarifying their prescribing authority based on a board-developed formulary. The law also includes provisions for expedited licensure for CRNAs moving from other states and maintains requirements for national certification and continuing education.

Maddy summarySB 120 permanently eliminates copays and coinsurance for behavioral health services in New Mexico. It applies to all group health plans, individual insurance policies, and health maintenance organizations sold in the state that cover mental health, substance abuse, and trauma treatment. The law removes all cost-sharing requirements - including fixed copays, percentage-based coinsurance, and deductibles - for services like therapy, inpatient care, medication (including brand-name drugs when generics aren’t available), and residential treatment. This change affects all health plans offering behavioral health coverage, ensuring no out-of-pocket costs for enrollees for these services. The bill amends multiple sections of New Mexico’s Health Care Purchasing Act and Insurance Code to make this elimination permanent, extending beyond the previous 2027 sunset date.

Maddy summarySB 122 expands New Mexico's prescription drug donation program to allow more healthcare providers and facilities to participate in collecting and redistributing unused prescription drugs. It specifically adds licensed health care facilities and practitioners (beyond just clinics) as eligible recipients, permits out-of-state pharmacies to distribute drugs via mail or in-person, and requires safety checks for refrigerated drugs and tamper-evident packaging. The bill establishes rules for inspecting drugs, labeling, storing, and charging only reasonable handling fees to cover costs. It also provides liability protection for donors, recipients, and redistributors who follow safety procedures, while clarifying that manufacturers remain liable for their own products. The law, signed into effect on April 9, 2025, directly affects patients who receive donated medications and participating healthcare entities.

Maddy summarySB 219, the Medical Psilocybin Act, allows regulated medical use of psilocybin (a compound found in certain mushrooms) to treat specific conditions including treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, substance use disorders, and end-of-life care. It removes psilocybin from New Mexico's controlled substances list for medical purposes, creating a program overseen by the Department of Health that requires clinicians and producers to obtain permits and follow safety protocols. The bill establishes an advisory board to help develop treatment guidelines and provides legal protections, exempting authorized use from criminal penalties while prohibiting use while driving under its influence. Qualified patients must be diagnosed with an approved condition by a licensed clinician within an approved setting, with the Department of Health required to implement the program by December 2027.