New Mexico Register / Volume XXXIV,
Issue 2 / January 31, 2023
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
The New Mexico Department of Health will hold a public hearing on the proposed adoption of amendments to rule, 7.1.31 NMAC,
“Statewide Health Care Claims Database.”
The public hearing will be held on March 3, 2023
at 9:30 am via Cisco Webex online, via telephone, and, comments will be
received via email through the day of the hearing until 5:00 pm. The hearing is being held via internet, email
and telephonic means due to the concerns surrounding Coronavirus and in accord
with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Executive Order 2020-004, Declaration of
a Public Health Emergency, Executive Order 2023-001, and any subsequent
executive orders. This
hearing will be conducted to receive public comment regarding the adoption of the proposed amendments to rule, 7.1.31 NMAC, concerning the creation and maintenance of a repository of
healthcare claims data to be used to increase the quality and effectiveness of
health care delivered in New Mexico.
The existing rule assists in making
health care costs more transparent to the public; fulfilling the DOH’s
legislative obligations in 24-14A-3, NMSA 1978, as part of the overall “Health
Information System”, “created for the purpose of assisting the department,
legislature and other agencies and organizations in the state's efforts in
collecting, analyzing and disseminating health information to assist: in the performance
of health planning and policymaking functions, including identifying personnel,
facility, education and other resource needs and allocating financial,
personnel and other resources where appropriate; consumers in making informed
decisions regarding health care; and in administering, monitoring and
evaluating a statewide health plan. The
four proposed amendments to the rule will a] change the initial data submission
date from 1/1/2022 to 1/1/2023 (Subsection 7 of Subsection B of 7.1.31.9
NMAC); b] revise the historical data
start date from 1/1/2019 to 1/1/2020 (Subsection 5 of Subsection B of 7.1.31.9
NMAC); c] change the version of the APCD-Common
Data Layout (APCD-CDLTM, with errata, Copyright 2021 by APCD
Council, National Association of Health Data Organizations, the University of
New Hampshire) used for defining data elements from Version 1.1 to Version
2.1 (Subsection 1 of Subsection A of 7.1.31.9 NMAC);
d] add a new exception to reporting for health insurance carriers that only
insure less than 500 individuals during the relevant time period (Subsection 6
of Subsection A of 7.1.31.9 NMAC); and e] replace “Centennial Care” with
“Medicaid” (Subsection 5 of Subsecution A of 7.1.31.9
NMAC).
The legal
authority authorizing the proposed amendment of the rule by the Department is
at Subsection E of Section 9-7-6, NMSA 1978 and the Health Information System
Act, 24-14A-1 et seq. NMSA 1978. A free
copy of the full text of the proposed amended rule can be obtained from the
Department’s website at https://nmhealth.org/publication/regulation/.
The New Mexico Department of
Health will also hold a public hearing on the proposed adoption of Part 19 of Title 7, Chapter 1 named Violence
Intervention Program Fund, previously adopted via emergency rulemaking in
2022. The
public hearing will be held on March 3, 2023 at 10:30 am via Cisco Webex
online, via telephone, and, comments will be received via email through the day
of the hearing until 5:00 pm. This
hearing will be conducted to receive public comment regarding the adoption of the proposed rule, 7.1.19 NMAC This rule was previously adopted to administer the provisions of the Violence Intervention Program Act and to establish
standards and procedures designed for the purpose of making funds available as
awarded by violence intervention program grants to state agencies, counties,
municipalities or tribal governments that the department
finds are disproportionately impacted by violent crimes, including homicides,
shootings and aggravated assaults, and develop standards pertaining to the
collection and sharing of data by grantees.
On March 9, 2022, Governor
Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law House Bill 68, passed by the New Mexico
Legislature on February 17, 2022. HB 68
enacted the Violence Intervention Program Act, creating the Violence
Intervention Program Fund and assigning the Department as the agency to
administer the fund, establish the standards and procedures for taking
applications and awarding grants to the agencies described above for the purposes
stated. The Department established the
same in an emergency rule, which will expire in February 2023 pursuant to
Subsection E of Section 14-4-5.6, NMSA 1978. Therefore the proposed rule is to be adopted
under the normal rulemaking process.
The legal authority authorizing the
adoption of the proposed rule by the Department is at Subsection E of Section
9-7-6, NMSA 1978 and the Violence
Intervention Program Fund Act, 31-30-8, NMSA 1978. A free copy of the full text of the proposed
rule can be obtained from the Department’s website at https://nmhealth.org/publication/regulation/.
Any interested member of the public may
attend the hearing and offer public comments on the proposed rule during the
hearing. To access the hearing by
telephone: please call 1-505-312-4308,
phone conference ID # 897566521#. Your
telephone comments will be recorded. To
access the hearing via internet: please go to
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/join-a-meeting, enter the
following meeting number and password where indicated on screen—Meeting ID 272
551 467 621, Passcode: GCNHyY, then click the “Join a
meeting” button. You may also provide
comment via Chat during the live streaming.
Written public comments may also be
submitted to the mailing address shown below.
Please submit any written comments regarding the proposed rules to the
attention of:
Kenneth Geter, Bureau Chief
Community & Health Systems
Epidemiology Bureau
Epidemiology and Response Division
New Mexico Department of Health
1190 S St.
Francis Dr., Ste N1320
Kenneth.Geter@doh.nm.gov
(505) 827-2694
For 7.1.19 NMAC:
Rachel Wexler, Bureau Chief
Injury and Behavioral Epidemiology Bureau
Epidemiology and Response Division
New Mexico Department of Health
1190 S St. Francis Dr., Ste
N1320
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Rachel.Wexler@doh.nm.gov
(505)
476-3082
Mailed written comments must
be received by 5 pm MST on March 3, 2023.
Written comments may also be submitted to the email address shown above
through 5:00 pm MST on the date of the hearing.
All written comments will be published on the agency website at
https://nmhealth.org/publication/regulation/ within 3 days of receipt, and will be available at the
New Mexico Department of Health Office of General Counsel for public inspection.
If you are an individual with a disability
who is in need of special assistance or accommodations to attend or participate
in the hearing, please contact Sheila Apodaca by telephone at (505)
827-2997. The Department requests at
least ten (10) days advance notice to provide requested special accommodations.