Tribal Law Journal 2026 Symposium

The New Mexico Law Review and Tribal Law Journal are pleased to announce the 2026 Symposium, “The Collapse of Care: Addressing Rural Healthcare Access, Federal Funding, and the Future of New Mexico Care” on Friday, October 30th, at the University of New Mexico School of Law. Attorneys, healthcare professionals, students, and members of the public are all invited to attend. The full-day symposium will bring together judges, legislators, healthcare professionals, attorneys, academics, and policymakers to examine the legal and policy challenges facing healthcare access throughout New Mexico. The program will begin with a focus on upcoming federal changes to Medicaid through the Big Beautiful Bill. New Mexico has one of the highest percentages of residents enrolled on Medicaid with over 41.8% of the state population qualifying for benefits. As the role of providing robust healthcare options shifts to the state’s this symposium will focus on how New Mexico plans to address this gap and ongoing measures being made to our healthcare system.

After this background, the program will explore other issues such as Native healthcare delivery, maternal healthcare, rural access, private equity’s role in healthcare delivery, and state constitutional questions surrounding a right to healthcare.

Those interested in attending can register here.

The symposium has been approved by the New Mexico Board of Bar Commissioners for 4.5 General CLE credits and 2.0 EIJ CLE credits. Registration is $125 for attorneys, $30 for members of the public, and free for students. Light breakfast, lunch, and a cocktail hour will be provided. If you are an attorney part of a firm that donated to the symposium you may register for CLE credit for free.

The symposium begins with a keynote address from Professor Nicole Huberfeld, Edward R. Utley Professor of Health Law at Boston University School of Law and Public Health. Her keynote, “Federalism, Medicaid, and the Changing State Role in Healthcare Delivery,” will examine the relationship between federal and state governments in providing healthcare and the evolving role of states in healthcare delivery.

Following the keynote address, the program will feature a number of healthcare-focused panels.

First, the Three Branches Update, featuring the Honorable Justice David Thomson, Representative Christine Chandler, and New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Gina DeBlassie, will address developments in healthcare law from the perspectives of the judicial, legislative, and executive branches, including SB 3: The Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act, HB 99: The Medical Malpractice Reform Act, and changes to the state Medicaid system.

The symposium then turns to Native Healthcare Delivery Policy and Practice. The panel features Dr. Leonard Thomas, Albuquerque Area Chief Medical Officer for the Indian Health Service; Professor Vanessa Racehorse, Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder Law School; Professor Grant Christensen, Associate Professor at the University of Alabama School of Law; and Dr. Julianna Reece, a community health physician and Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico. The panel will explore the unique legal and practical challenges surrounding healthcare delivery in native communities.

Following lunch, the Access to Maternal Healthcare in Underserved Communities panel will examine barriers to maternal healthcare and the challenges facing underserved communities. Panelists include Professor John Cogan, Roger S. Baldwin Scholar at the University of Connecticut School of Law; Nicolle Arthun, Health Policy Fellow with U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan; Erin Marshall of the Dulce Program; and Dr. Trevor Quiner, from the Center on Health and Policy.

The Dismantling Rural Access Barriers panel brings together Dr. Jessie Barnes, Director of the UNM School of Medicine Rural & Urban Underserved Program; Zackaree Kelin of Davis Kelin Law; Shandiin Wood, Director of the Ohkay Owingeh Health and Human Services Division; and a representative from Project ECHO. The panel will focus on the challenges rural communities face in accessing healthcare and potential approaches to addressing those barriers.

The symposium then examines state constitutional questions with A Constitutional Conversation: A State Constitutional Right to Healthcare. Moderated by the Honorable Judge Linda Vanzi, the conversation will feature attorneys Carson Thornton González and Clay Wilwol who will explore questions surrounding the New Mexico State Constitution and the feasibility of a state constitutional right to healthcare.

The day concludes with a keynote from Representative Reena Szczepanski, who will discuss The Future of New Mexico Healthcare Policy. Her remarks will bring the symposium’s discussions of access, funding, rur…

The New Mexico Law Review and Tribal Law Journal extend their appreciation to the symposium’s sponsors for their support. Sponsors include Buckingham & Vega Law Firm; Peifer, Hanson, Mullins & Baker, P.A.; Source NM; Sutin, Thayer & Browne; Melendres & Melendres P.C.; Singleton Schreiber; Isleta Resort & Casnio, and Modrall Sperling.

By bringing together perspectives from across the legal, healthcare, governmental, and academic communities, the symposium seeks to foster meaningful discussion about the challenges facing healthcare access in New Mexico and the legal and policy tools available to address them.

Any questions can be directed to our Symposium Editors Jane Tabet-Kirkpatrick of the New Mexico Law Review or Noelle Phillips of the Tribal Law Journal: kirkpatrickj@law.unm.edu & noellephillips@law.unm.edu.