The last two of 15 mental health nonprofit providers under investigation for possible Medicaid fraud have been cleared by New Mexico's top prosecutor.
Attorney General Hector Balderas is sending a letter to state lawmakers today, informing them of the outcome of his investigation. He says no patterns of fraud were uncovered.
Gov. Susana Martinez's administration froze payments to the providers after a 2013 audit alleged they mishandled $36 million in Medicaid funding.
Balderas says separate investigations found there was about $1.16 million in overbilling but no evidence of fraud.
He says it's now up to the state Human Services Department to resolve what he called a regrettable situation and ensure that New Mexicans get the care they need. A majority of the nonprofits, some of which were put out of business, are now suing Governor Susana Martinez’s administration, alleging the state violated their right to due process. None of the agencies were presented with evidence of fraud, and they were not allowed to see the audit.
Meanwhile a third company the governor brought in to replace those nonprofits just announced it is leaving the state, putting the future of thousands of staffers and counselors who work with mental health patients, in limbo. The State Human Services agency said last week it was working to make sure there would be no gaps in service.
Officials at a northwestern New Mexico hospital say a now former employee walked off with information on nearly 7,500 patients. The information included Social Security numbers, birthdates, diagnoses and insurance policy numbers.
The documents in cardboard boxes turned up in storage units near Farmington. They had been taken from the Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock last fall without authorization.
The Indian Health Service runs the hospital on the Navajo Nation. Agency spokeswoman Jenny Notah says there's no indication the information has been misused.
She says the agency is notifying patients and Navajo communities of the breach and offering a year of identity protection services. The agency also ramped up employee training.
Notah says the agency delayed notifying patients at the request of law enforcement while the investigation was ongoing.
Wildfire season has started early inNew Mexico.
New Mexico State Forestry Wildfire Prevention Coordinator Micaela Hester told The Albuquerque Journal that the agency is a lot busier now than it was at this time last year.
She says 45,000 acres have burned across the state so far this year, a big jump from 7,600 acres by the same time last year.
According to Hester, officials are anticipating an active fire season because of an abundance of dry grass and warmer temperatures.
Fire crews last week battled one blaze near Ruidoso and others in Catron and Otero counties. Meanwhile, a fire that started in Socorro County on March 20 burned 300 acres over four days.
Thousands of visitors from around the nation visited the spot of the world's first atomic test during a special one-day opening of the Trinity Testing site this past weekend.
The Alamogordo Daily News reports visitors to the Trinity Testing site were greeted by a small group of protesters Saturday who say the secret atomic blast in the New Mexico desert 70 years ago has caused lasting health problems.
July marked the 70th year anniversary since the Trinity Test in New Mexico took place as part of the Manhattan Project. It was a top-secret World War II nuclear development program managed from the then-secret city of Los Alamos. It came as nearby Tularosa residents – calling themselves “Downwinders” - now say they were permanently affected by the test and want acknowledgement and compensation from the U.S. government.
The tribal community of San Ildefonso Pueblo sits in the shadow of the Los Alamos Lab, one of the nation's premier laboratories and the birthplace of the atomic bomb.
The tribe is on the front lines of a battle to rein in contamination left behind by decades of bomb making and nuclear research.
Pueblo Gov. James Mountain says he's encouraged that the New Mexico Environment Department has identified a plume of chromium contamination at the tribe's border with the lab as a priority under a revamped cleanup proposal. That plan was announced last week.
Under the draft proposal, a series of reports would be required and initial pumping and treatment could begin as early as this fall.
Officials would then have to develop a final corrective action plan and implementation could take between four and five years.
Supporters of a northern New Mexico school board member with a past felony drug conviction are circulating a petition seeking a pardon for him
Under state law, felons are not eligible to hold elective office unless they have secured a pardon. The Las Vegas Optics reports West Las Vegas School Board member Anthony "Leroy" Benavidez is under scrutiny after fellow board members were notified of a previously unknown 2002 conviction.
The New Mexico Attorney General's Office currently is investigating the matter at the state Public Education Department's request.
A letter obtained by the Optic showed that board chairman David Romero was informed of Benavidez's conviction in December. Other board members weren't notified of the situation until early March, when the full board was contacted by the school district's attorneys.
First Lady Michelle Obama will deliver the high school commencement address to Santa Fe Indian School.
The White House announced yesterday that Mrs. Obama will address the school on May 26 as part of the White House Generation Indigenous Initiative.
The initiative works to improve the lives of American Indian youth by promoting a national dialogue and programs to train the next generation of leaders.
Last year, the First Lady addressed the White House Tribal Youth Gathering in Washington, D.C.
The Santa Fe Indian School currently is owned and operated by a coalition of the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico.
New Mexico State University's Board of Regents has decided not to increase tuition for the 2016-2017 academic year.
Now the university will need to cut its budget by approximately $10.7 million for the next year. During a town hall meeting last month, university leaders said NMSU was facing a challenging financial situation stemming from several factors.
That includes a decrease in state appropriations due to the struggling state economy and a decrease in student enrollment.
Taken together, state funding and tuition represent about half the university's operating budget.
Among the options being considered by university leaders is a reduction in administrative salaries.
Regents did approve a 5 percent increase in on-campus housing rates.