Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 40, the Health Care Quality Surcharge Act Changes, which results in millions of additional state and federal dollars flowing to New Mexico nursing facilities to improve quality of care. Originally enacted with a delayed repeal date of January 1, 2023, SB 40 makes the Health Care Quality Surcharge permanent, providing immediate financial help to nursing facilities across New Mexico. The bill is sponsored by Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino. The Health Care Quality Surcharge program enables the state to leverage millions of additional federal dollars for New Mexico nursing facilities by imposing a daily surcharge on skilled Nursing Facilities and Intermediate Care Facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities for non-Medicare “bed days”. These facilities pay the surcharge to the Taxation and Revenue Department, which distributes the funds to the Health Care Facility Fund and the Disability Health Care Facility Fund. The Human Services Department administers the Facility Funds and uses the revenue as the source of state general fund to obtain federal Medicaid matching funds and increase payment rates to facilities.
