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Health-related bills to take effect May 20

Posted

Four bills boosting the wellbeing of New Mexicans have been signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. House Bill 100, House Bill 292, Senate Bill 1, and Senate Bill 131 help ensure that all New Mexicans can live longer, healthier lives, no matter where they live or how much money they earn. The bills reduce the cost of prescription drugs, develop more affordable health care insurance options and raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21.

House Bill 100, sponsored by Representatives Deborah Armstrong, D-Albuquerque, and Micaela Lara Cadena, D-Mesilla, empowers the New Mexico health insurance exchange, beWellnm, to take on at the state level responsibilities and authority formerly held by the federal government, furthering access to insurance plans. Additionally, it codifies provisions of state law so that New Mexicans will continue to be able to access health insurance plans even if the Affordable Care Act goes away.

House Bill 292, sponsored by Cadena and Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque, caps copays and out-of-pocket expenses for insulin, making them the lowest in the country at $25 per prescription for a 30-day supply. In the last decade, the list prices of common types of insulin have roughly tripled. Today, a quarter of American adults with diabetes say that price has impacted their insulin use, according to the American Diabetes Association.

“I am proud to have sponsored House Bill 292 making sure all New Mexicans can afford the medicine they need to survive and thrive. Capping insulin copays is an effort to bring much needed relief to families facing unconscionably high drug prices,” Cadena said.

Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Armstrong and Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, authorizes the New Mexico Department of Health to develop a plan for New Mexico to import wholesale drugs from Canada. Prescription drugs from Canada on average cost 30 percent less than in the United States.

Senate Bill 131, sponsored by Representatives Joanne Ferrary, D-Las Cruces, and Elizabeth Thompson, D-Albuquerque, and Senators Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, and Gabriel Ramos, D-Silver City, regulates the manufacture, distribution and sale of tobacco products. Additionally, the bill raises the legal age for purchases of e-cigarette and other tobacco products from 18 to 21, aligning New Mexico law with federal law and creating criminal penalties for vendors who sell to those under the age of 21.

Each of the news laws takes effect May 20.


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