UNM Hospital reports $32 million operating loss for FY25, warns Medicaid cut could raise uncompensated care

UNM Health System leaders told the Bernalillo County Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 4 that the hospital will close fiscal year 2025 with an operating loss of roughly $30–32 million and that state and federal Medicaid changes could sharply increase patients without coverage. Kate Becker, CEO of UNM Hospitals, told commissioners the hospital reported a roughly $32,000,000 negative operating position through May and expects to finish the fiscal year at about a $30,000,000 loss. Becker said operational changes implemented in April began showing improvement in June and that the health system expects a stronger position starting in the new fiscal year. Becker warned the board that federal changes to Medicaid anticipated in coming legislation could reduce enrollment and increase uncompensated care. She told commissioners the state is projecting 89,000 to 90,000 New Mexicans might lose Medicaid coverage effective Dec. 31, 2026; the hospital will need to model that change as it prepares budgets for FY27. Becker also said UNM’s UNM Care program — which covers uncompensated care — currently enrolls roughly 5,000 individuals, compared with pre-Affordable Care Act levels of 25,000–30,000, and that the hospital could see several-fold increases in demand if Medicaid enrollment drops. On a positive note, Becker said UNM’s new critical care tower will begin accepting its first patient at 5 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 5, and the hospital will hold a ribbon-cutting Sept. 26. The tower adds critical care beds and revenue-generating services, Becker said, and should bolster capacity for specialty services the community relies on. Commissioners asked for clarification about how the jail (Metropolitan Detention Center) patient counts appear in UNM reports; Becker said reporting methods changed in October 2024 and now count individual inmates who have outpatient specialty appointments rather than counting appointment events, making the series noncomparable to earlier months. Becker also confirmed that inpatient transfers are patients moved from MDC into the hospital for admission and that many MDC services (primary/chronic care) are not shown in the UNM tracking presented to commissioners. The hospital emphasized ongoing work on continuity of care for people on medication-assisted treatment released from detention, and thanked the county Addiction Treatment Advisory Board for collaboration on transitions of care.