Unless otherwise provided by law, expenses incurred in carrying out the powers, duties and functions of the New Mexico medical review commission, including the salary of the director, shall be paid by the patient's compensation fund. The superintendent, in his capacity as custodian of the fund, shall disburse fund money to the director upon receipt of vouchers itemizing expenses incurred by the New Mexico medical review commission. The director shall supply the chief justice of the New Mexico supreme court with duplicates of all vouchers submitted to the superintendent. Expenses paid by the fund shall not exceed three hundred fifty thousand dollars ($350,000) in any single calendar year; provided, however, that expenses incurred in defending the commission shall not be subject to that maximum amount.
History: 1953 Comp., § 58-33-28, enacted by Laws 1976, ch. 2, § 29; 1991, ch. 264, § 11; 1997, ch. 108, § 1.
The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, substituted "three hundred fifty thousand dollars ($350,000)" for "two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000)" in the last sentence.
The 1991 amendment, effective July 1, 1991, substituted "two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000)" for "one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000)" in the final sentence; added the proviso at the end of the final sentence; and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.