Policy group Think New Mexico said Friday the state could lose out on millions of federal dollars for rural hospitals if Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and state lawmakers don’t agree to put medical health care worker compacts onto the agenda of the Oct. 1 special legislative session.

Under such compacts, participating states accept medical workers professionally licensed in other states, thus expanding the work force.

On Monday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services opened applications for states to apply for the $50 billion federal Rural Health Transformation Program, authorized by the so-called “big beautiful bill.” According to guidelinesreleased earlier this week for the fund by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, applicants who participate in interstate compacts for nurses, doctors, psychologists, emergency medical personnel and physician assistants will be given preference for rural hospital funding.

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New Mexico is a member of just one interstate compact agreement — for nurses — and is one of only four states that participate in one or fewer compacts. Earlier this year, lawmakers passed seven compact agreements out of the state House with broad bipartisan support, and said they hoped doing so would address the worker shortage impacting patients and care across the state. All of the bills, however, stalled in the state Senate.

The federal agency will close initial applications for the Rural Health Transformation Fund on Nov. 5, leaving little time for lawmakers to approve New Mexico’s participation, according to Think New Mexico Executive Director Fred Nathan, whose organization previously lobbied for the medical compact legislation, and identified them as a key element of addressing the state’s health care worker shortages.

Choosing to bump the issue to the January session would put New Mexico at a disadvantage and possibly forfeit federal funds, he told Source NM.

“Legislative leaders have an opportunity to maximize federal support for New Mexico’s rural hospitals by working with the governor to include the health care worker compacts on the agenda for the Oct. 1 special session ” Nathan said.

Republican lawmakers have said they wanted to include health worker compacts as part of the agenda for the special session in a letter to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham earlier this week.

Michael Coleman, Lujan Grisham’s communications director, told Source NM via email Friday afternoon that, “the governor suggested this as an item for consideration during the special session, but lawmakers were concerned there would not be enough time to deal with this in addition to other pressing concerns already on the agenda. Given this new information, she would respectfully request that lawmakers reconsider taking it up in October.”