(Albuquerque) Governor Bill Richardson’s health care proposal, the so-called “Health Solutions New Mexico” plan, would essentially enslave physicians and would greatly harm New Mexicans’ ability to obtain private health care if it is passed, so says Linda Gorman, author of a new Rio Grande Foundation policy brief.

Just one week ago, the Foundation outlined its own market-friendly solutions for New Mexico’s health care woes. That study, “Cutting Costs and Improving Health Care in New Mexico” is available on the Foundation website. In her new paper, Gorman discusses in point-by-point detail the many ways in which Richardson’s own plan, by relying on bigger, more intrusive government, would fail in its attempt to improve access to quality health care in the state.

Among Gorman’s findings:

* In 2003, Maine’s governor pushed for and passed a health reform plan that has many of the characteristics of Governor Richardson’s plan. Cost and savings projections were done by the same firm, Mathematica Policy Research. Costs were greatly underestimated and predicted savings failed to materialize. Taxes have been increased to support the program. The number of uninsured has been reduced by no more than 10 percent and the cost of insuring one additional person was almost $16,000 dollars;

* Physicians would be forced to accept “any state funded public source of payment for eligible individuals” and all commercial insurance plans as a condition of licensure. Nothing could force doctors out of New Mexico faster than forcing what amount to price controls on all doctors who wish to practice in the state;

* The plan would require that insurers pay at least 85 percent of their revenues on direct medical benefits. This means that insurers that do a good job of minimizing costs, funding future liabilities, improving customer service, limiting fraud, and finding ways to provide better treatment for less cannot be rewarded with higher profits. It is a “spend whether you need to or not” recipe for higher health care costs;

* Employees’ relationships with their employers would be regulated with proof of insurance required for job applications and employers forced to collect information about their employees’ health coverage (such as whether or not their spouse has coverage).

While these and other intrusions may appear to be reasonable if the goal of high quality, universal coverage can be achieved, it is important to note that employers with five or fewer workers will be exempt, thus providing incentives for companies to reorganize, lay off marginal employees, or automate. The plan also does not include illegal immigrants who will continue to fill emergency rooms.

As Gorman concludes, “Similar policies have failed everywhere they have been tried. What have the people of New Mexico done to deserve having such misguided reforms inflicted on them?”

Full text of the policy brief is available at: http://riograndefoundation.org/downloads/rgf_gorman_health_care_paper.pdf