Medical bills in New Mexico: free care, credit reports and your rights
New Mexico has no state charity-care law; nonprofit hospitals must still follow federal rules.
New Mexico has no state law that keeps medical debt off credit reports; the federal 7-year limit still applies.
Charity care means free or discounted care for people with low income. Hospitals also call it financial assistance.
Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.
Federal rules for nonprofit hospitals apply in every state. Free help can review your bill.
Can I get my bill reduced in New Mexico?
New Mexico has no state charity-care law. Nonprofit hospitals must follow the federal rules, and each hospital has its own policy: ask for it and for the application.
- Who can get help
State law protects 'indigent patients': patients whose household income (counted the way Medicaid counts it) is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. A provider may still bill an indigent patient, but may not sue, garnish wages, freeze bank accounts, put liens on property or sell the debt, and may not hire anyone else to collect it.
- Other providers
Doctors and other licensed professionals, and entities with at least $20 million in yearly revenue, that bill you separately for care in a health facility must follow the same rule: no collection actions against indigent patients.
Law: NMSA 1978, 57-32-1 to 57-32-10 (Laws 2021, SB 71); NMSA 13.10.39 NMAC
Is my debt too old in New Mexico?
| Kind of agreement | Time limit to sue |
|---|---|
| Written contract | 6 years |
| Open account | 4 years |
| Oral (spoken) agreement | 4 years |
A lawsuit on a written contract must be filed within 6 years. A lawsuit on an unwritten contract or an account must be filed within 4 years.
- What can restart the clock
A payment on the debt, or a signed admission of the debt or new promise to pay, can restart the time limit. A collector asking for payment on a debt it knows or should know is too old to sue on must first give you a plain-language notice required by the Attorney General's rule.
Law: NMSA 1978, 37-1-3, 37-1-4, 37-1-16; NMSA 12.2.12 NMAC
A time limit to sue can differ by kind of agreement, and when it starts and what restarts it can differ; a court decides.
Can they sue me or report it in New Mexico?
- Credit reports
No state limit
New Mexico has no state law limiting medical debt on credit reports.
- Waiting rules
A health care facility may not take collection action while it is screening you or while your application for insurance or financial assistance is under review. A medical debt collector must have the full billing information (dates, amounts and nature of all charges, whether you have insurance, whether you were screened, and whether insurance or public programs were billed) before contacting you. For indigent patients (household income at or below 200% of the poverty level), no collection action is ever allowed: no lawsuit, wage garnishment, bank seizure, lien on property or sale of the debt, and any such action must stop once you are found indigent.
- Interest
New Mexico law sets no special interest cap for medical debt. Every receipt for a payment on medical debt must show the interest rate and the interest added since your last payment, and payments must be credited on the day received.
- Liens on your home
For indigent patients, no lien may be placed on your property to collect medical debt.
- Wage garnishment
For indigent patients, wages may not be garnished for medical debt. For other debts, you keep the greater of 75% of your weekly disposable earnings or 40 times the highest applicable minimum wage.
- Bank account
For indigent patients, bank accounts may not be attached or seized for medical debt. For any debt, $2,400 in bank and investment accounts is protected as part of a general exemption.
- Selling the debt
Selling the medical debt of an indigent patient to a debt buyer or collector is a prohibited collection action.
- Lawsuit rules
In a lawsuit on medical debt, the court complaint form requires the plaintiff to state how it determined that you are not indigent (through screening, an indigency check, or three documented attempts to reach you) and to serve you with the state Attestation of Indigency form you can use to claim indigency as a defense. A collection agency's lawsuit must be brought by a licensed attorney.
Law: NMSA 1978, 57-32-2, 57-32-4, 57-32-6, 57-32-7; NMSA 13.10.39.8-13.10.39.9 NMAC; NMSA 35-12-7; NMSA 42-10-1; Form 4-226A NMRA
Surprise bills and ambulance bills in New Mexico
- State law
Surprise Billing Protection Act (2019)
- Which plans it covers
State-regulated individual and group health insurance, HMO and nonprofit health plans. Self-funded employer plans are generally covered only by federal law.
- What it adds
For emergency care from an out-of-network provider, and for non-emergency care at an in-network facility when you could not choose an in-network provider (or did not give specific consent), you owe only your in-network cost sharing.
- Ground ambulance
No state limit listed
New Mexico has no state limit on ground ambulance bills that we list here. The federal No Surprises Act generally does not cover ground ambulances either, so ask the ambulance company about financial assistance and a payment plan.
Law: NMSA 1978, 59A-57A-1 to 59A-57A-13 (Laws 2019, SB 337)
Itemized bills and price estimates in New Mexico
New Mexico law gives you a right to an itemized bill.
Every bill from a health care facility, separately billing provider or medical creditor must give a complete, plain-language description of the date, amount and nature of all charges, say whether your insurance was verified and whether you were screened for assistance programs, and whether insurance or public programs have been or will be billed. Anyone contacting you about medical debt, including a collector, must tell you this information is available and offer to give it to you (no more than once every 30 days). Within 30 business days of receiving a payment, they must send you a receipt showing the amount, date, new balance, interest, account number, current owner of the debt and whether the payment was accepted as payment in full.
Law: NMSA 1978, 57-32-6, 57-32-7
Price estimates
Hospitals and other licensed health facilities must post on their website the health plans they contract with and a statement that doctors working there may be out of network and bill separately. An out-of-network provider who knows in advance must tell you it is out of network and advise you to contact your insurer.
Law: NMSA 1978, 59A-57A-5 (Laws 2019, SB 337, sec. 5)
Health coverage and Medicaid in New Mexico
New Mexico Medicaid (Turquoise Care) is New Mexico's Medicaid program. Apply for it here:
Apply: New Mexico Medicaid (Turquoise Care) · 1-800-283-4465
Where to complain in New Mexico
- Attorney general: New Mexico Department of Justice (Attorney General)
A hospital, provider, collector or debt buyer broke the Patients' Debt Collection Protection Act, for example by suing or collecting from you after you were found indigent. The Attorney General enforces this law. - Health insurance: Office of Superintendent of Insurance (OSI), Managed Health Care Bureau · 855-427-5674
A surprise bill or other problem with state-regulated health insurance, or questions about the indigency rules and form. - Debt collectors: Regulation and Licensing Department, Financial Institutions Division
A licensed collection agency broke state collection rules. - Medicaid: New Mexico Health Care Authority · 1-800-283-4465
Questions about applying for Medicaid, which can cover medical bills.
Free help in New Mexico
Free tools, letters and checklist
Good to know in New Mexico
- If your household income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, no one may sue you, garnish your wages, seize your bank account, put a lien on your property or sell your medical debt.
Law: NMSA 1978, 57-32-2(A), 57-32-4
- A determination that you are indigent is valid for 24 months, and a provider's failure to check does not let it take collection action unless you did not cooperate after at least three documented contact attempts.
Law: 13.10.39.9 NMAC
- Any provision in a financial assistance policy or agreement that waives your rights under the Patients' Debt Collection Protection Act is void.
Law: NMSA 1978, 57-32-9
Changes in 2024–2026
December 31, 2025: the New Mexico Supreme Court adopted a Civil Complaint for Medical Debt form for all cases pending or filed on or after that date, requiring the plaintiff to state how it determined you are not indigent and to serve you the Attestation of Indigency form.
Source: Form 4-226A, Order No. S-1-RCR-2025-00174
Questions about medical bills in New Mexico
How long can a medical bill be collected or sued on in New Mexico?
A lawsuit on a written contract must be filed within 6 years. A lawsuit on an unwritten contract or an account must be filed within 4 years.
Can a medical debt lead to wage garnishment or a lien on my home in New Mexico?
For indigent patients, wages may not be garnished for medical debt. For other debts, you keep the greater of 75% of your weekly disposable earnings or 40 times the highest applicable minimum wage.
Do I have a right to an itemized bill in New Mexico?
Every bill from a health care facility, separately billing provider or medical creditor must give a complete, plain-language description of the date, amount and nature of all charges, say whether your insurance was verified and whether you were screened for assistance programs, and whether insurance or public programs have been or will be billed. Anyone contacting you about medical debt, including a collector, must tell you this information is available and offer to give it to you (no more than once every 30 days).
More help
Nearby states
Sources
- SB 71 (2021), Patients' Debt Collection Protection Act, final text
- 13.10.39 NMAC, Patients' Debt Collection Protections (OSI rule)
- SB 337 (2019), Surprise Billing Protection Act, final text
- 12.2.12 NMAC (time-barred debt; statutes of limitation)
- Form 4-226A NMRA, Civil Complaint for Medical Debt (Metropolitan Court)
- NM Health Care Authority: Apply for benefits
- CMS Consumer Assistance Program: New Mexico
- SB 216 (2023) exemptions