A top official in Gov. Susana Martinez's administration says taxpayers have subsidized insurance costs for the University of New Mexico while the state has paid $48 million for medical malpractice claims over the treatment of children with leukemia.
State Risk Management Director A. J. Forte describes the insurance rates as a "sweetheart deal."
He said medical malpractice premiums for UNM hospital have been too low because the state didn't properly factor in settlement payments and potential liability of child cancer claims since the late 1990s.
UNM Health Sciences Center spokesman Billy Sparks said there was no sweetheart deal on insurance.
As of July, the state no longer provides insurance for claims stemming from the alleged substandard treatment of children with leukemia.
Sparks said UNM is self-insuring those claims.
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