New Mexico Statutes
Article 5 - Indigent Hospital and County Health Care
Section 27-5-6 - Powers and duties of counties relating to indigent care.

A county:
A. may budget for expenditure on ambulance services, burial expenses, hospital or medical expenses for indigent residents of that county and for costs of development of a countywide or multicounty health plan. The combined costs of administration and planning shall not exceed the following percentages of revenues based on the previous fiscal year revenues for a fund that has existed for at least one fiscal year or based on projected revenues for the year being budgeted for a fund that has existed for less than one fiscal year. The percentage of the revenues in the fund that may be used for such combined administrative and planning costs is equal to the sum of the following:
(1) ten percent of the amount of the revenues in the fund not over five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000);
(2) eight percent of the amount of the revenues in the fund over five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) but not over one million dollars ($1,000,000); and
(3) four and one-half percent of the amount of the revenues in the fund over one million dollars ($1,000,000);
B. may accept contributions of public funds for county health care services, which shall be deposited in the fund;
C. may hire personnel to carry out the provisions of the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act;
D. shall transfer to the state by the last day of March, June, September and December of each year an amount equal to one-fourth of the county's payment pursuant to Section 27-5-6.2 NMSA 1978. This money shall be deposited in the safety net care pool fund;
E. shall, in carrying out the provisions of the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act, comply with the standards of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996;
F. may provide for the transfer of money from the fund to the county-supported medicaid fund to meet the requirements of the Statewide Health Care Act [27-10-1 to 27-10-4 NMSA 1978]; and
G. may contract with ambulance providers, hospitals or health care providers for the provision of services for indigent patients domiciled within the county; such services shall be provided to all non-citizens, regardless of immigration status, if they meet all other qualifying criteria for such services.
History: 1953 Comp., § 13-2-17, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 234, § 6; 1979, ch. 146, § 2; 1983, ch. 234, § 3; 1987, ch. 88, § 3; 1991, ch. 212, § 20; 1993, ch. 321, § 6; 1997, ch. 51, § 3; 1999, ch. 37, § 3; 2003, ch. 413, § 3; 2014, ch. 79, § 7; 2021, ch. 127, § 3.
Cross references. — For the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, see 42 U.S.C. 300gg et seq.
For payment of claims, see 27-5-12 NMSA 1978.
For provisions regarding the human services department, see Chapter 9, Article 8.
For the Social Security Act, see 42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.
The 2021 amendment, effective June 18, 2018, provided that counties authorized to provide ambulance, hospital or health care services for indigent patients domiciled within the county, shall provide these services to all non-citizens regardless of immigration status; in Subsection D, after "pursuant to Section", deleted "16 of this 2014 act" and added "27-5-6.2 NMSA 1978"; and in Subsection G, after "domiciled within the county", added "such services shall be provided to all non-citizens regardless of immigration status, if they meet all other qualifying criteria for such services".
The 2014 amendment, effective March 12, 2014, simplified the powers and duties of counties relating to indigent care; deleted former Subsection A, which required counties to administer indigent claims; deleted former Subsection B, which required counties to prepare a budget for indigent claims and to pay the cost of administration; deleted former Subsection C, which required counties to make rules to carry out the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act; deleted former Subsection D, which required counties to set criteria and cost limitations for medial care; deleted former Subsection E, which required counties to cooperate with state agencies to efficiently use funds; deleted former Subsection F, which required counties to cooperate with the department in investigating the validity of claims; deleted former Subsection I, which required counties to review the validity of claims; deleted former Subsection J, which required counties to support rejection of claims in writing; deleted former Subsection K, which required counties to pay claims that are not matched with federal funds; deleted former Subsection L, which required counties to determine by ordinance the types of providers that are eligible to submit claims; deleted former Subsection F, which required counties to approve medicaid sole community provider hospital payment requests; in Subsection A, in the first sentence, added "may budget for expenditure on ambulance services, burial expenses, hospital or medical expenses for indigent residents of that county and for"; in Subsection B, after "contributions", deleted "or other county revenues" and added "of public funds for county health care services"; in Subsection D, in the first sentence, after "county's payment", deleted "for support of sole community provider payments as calculated by the department for that county for the current fiscal year" and added "pursuant to Section 16 of this 2014 act", and in the second sentence, after "deposited in the", deleted "sole community provider" and added "safety net care pool" and in Subsection G, after "for the provision of", deleted "health care", and after "provision of services", added "for indigent patients domiciled within the county".
The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, substituted "not" for "in no event" following "and planning shall" in Subsection B; deleted "and regulations" following "rules" in Subsections C, I, and M; substituted "furnished by" for "in" following "for medical care" in Subsection D; deleted "treasurer" following "to the state" in Subsection N; added Subsection O and redesignated Subsections O and P as Subsection P and Q; and deleted "county indigent hospital claims" following "money from the" in present Subsection P.
The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, substituted "thirty days" for "sixty days" in Subsection K.
The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, in Subsection B, substituted "and costs of development of a countywide or multicounty health plan. The combined" for "which" following "Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act", inserted "and planning" following "costs of administration", and made minor stylistic changes; in Subsection I, inserted "or health care services" following "ambulance service" and made a related stylistic change; in Subsection J, added "within sixty days after submission of the claim" at the end of the section; in Subsection K, added "and shall make payment within sixty days after approval of a claim by the board"; and added Subsection P.
The 1993 amendment, effective on the date that the human services department is notified in writing that the amendment to the state medicaid plan has been approved by the federal health care financing administration, added Subsections E and L through O, redesignating former Subsections E through J as Subsections F through K and making a related grammatical change; substituted "and County Health Care" for "Claims" in Subsections A, B, C, H, and I; rewrote Paragraphs (1) through (3) of Subsection B, adding new introductory language for these paragraphs and closing off the former introductory language as the first sentence of the subsection; added the proviso at the end of Subsection C; substituted "ambulance services or health care providers" for "or ambulance service" in Subsection D; substituted "ambulance service or health care provider" for "or ambulance service" in two places in Subsection I and in Subsection J; and inserted "that are not matched with federal funds under the state medicaid program and" in Subsection K.
Compiler's notes. — Subsection A of § 22, Laws 1993, ch. 321, provides that §§ 3, 6, 10, 15, 16 and 18 (27-5-3, 27-5-6, 27-5-6.1, 27-5-7.1, 27-5-11 and 27-5-12.2 NMSA 1978) are effective the date that the human services department is notified in writing that the amendment to the state medicaid plan has been approved by the federal health care financing administration. The human services department was advised by letter dated May 20, 1993, that the United States Department of Health and Human Services had approved the amendment of New Mexico's medicaid plan "to add a payment provision for sole community hospitals (SCH), effective July 1, 1993, and a payment provision for indirect medical education (IME) costs incurred by teaching hospitals, effective August 1, 1992". Chapter 321, Laws 1993, contained an emergency clause. The human services department published notice of the approval in the New Mexican on June 21, 1993.
The 1991 amendment, effective July 1, 1991, rewrote Subsection B and deleted "human services" preceding "department" in Subsection E.
Payment for alcohol and drug abuse treatment. — A county has authority under the Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act to contract with health care providers to provide services associated with alcohol or drug abuse treatment, which could include bed reservation. 2007 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 07-05.