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Locally owned and independent Sunday, July 27, 2014 www.santafenewmexican.com

Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010 News tips: 983-3035 BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.SANTAFENEWMEXICAN.COM

Calendar A-2 Classifieds E-10 Lotteries A-2 Family C-7 Opinions B-1 Real Estate E-1 Sports D-1 Time Out/crossword E-16Index Six sections, 48 pages

165th year, No. 208Publication No. 596-440

Locally owned and independentLocally owned and independent

Hospital workers union withdrawsstrike threat ahead of vote Page C-1

$1.25

Fuego beat Trinidad Triggers 7-3,stay alive to play in Game 3 Sports, D-1

While nearly all politicianssay they favor “transparency,”and the state has passed lawstrying to make it easier totrack sources of campaignmoney, in reality, it’s gettingharder and harder to deter-mine who is footing the bill.

Some blame the U.S.Supreme Court’s CitizensUnited decision, which over-turned limits on how muchindependent groups canspend in an election. But withthe continuing rise of politicalaction committees and super-PACs — not to mention the“social welfare” organizationsthat don’t even have to reportwho their contributors are— it can all look like a shellgame for those trying to fol-low the money.

New Mexico’s campaigncontribution limits went intoeffect two years ago, but thepractice of big PACs fun-neling money into smallerPACs has become a way toget around those limits. Andthis year, with Republicans

making a concentrated effortto seize control of the stateHouse of Representatives— currently held by Demo-crats 37-33 — PACs and otherpolitical organizations, bothstate and national, alreadyhave begun pouring moneyinto the state.

“It really is like a game ofWhac-a-Mole,” said formerstate Sen. Dede Feldman,D-Albuquerque, in talkingabout how efforts to stopbig money from influencingelections have only led todifferent ways for the moneyto flow. Feldman sponsoredthe 2009 bill that establishedcampaign contribution limits.When asked if the currentsituation is what she envi-sioned when she fought forthe law, she laughed. “Theword that comes to my mindis circumvent,” she said.

Feldman said CitizensUnited and the trend of moreoutside campaign moneycoming into the state hascontributed to the situation.And outside groups, she said,have changed the focus of

TodaySome clouds.High 90, low 61.

PAGE D-6

ObituariesJonathan Abrams,July 18Sophia St. Ange,July 11James “Jamie”Butler, 46, July 17Connie K. Carrillo,70, Pecos, July 24Joe LawrenceMascarenas, July 21Jean Caroline

Krahe Mee, July 17Daniel T.Rodriguez, 85,July 9Jacob M.Rodriguez, 90,Santa Fe, July 22Marian M. Schulz,92, July 21Rafaelita (Lita)M. Vigil, 82, July 15

PAGES C-2, C-3

PasapickContemporary Hispanic Market8 a.m.-5 p.m., Lincoln Avenue between East Palace Avenueand Marcy Street, no charge.

Traditional Spanish MarketHeritage market with more than 250 artists, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.,the Plaza, no charge.More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo

www.pasatiempomagazine.com

Planner helpscouples createdream weddings

Santa Fean Jessie Baca strives to coordinate events thatmatch her clients’ personalities. SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT, C-1

With creativePAC strategies,campaign cashskirts limitsFollowing the money gets complicatedwhen groups funnel funds to other PACs

By Steve TerrellThe New Mexican

Please see CASH, Page A-5

Please see BOOM, Page A-6

David Rigsby, who is uninsured, has been fighting two hospitals in the state that have billed him tens of thousands of dol-lars for two procedures. PHOTOS BY JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN

David Rigsby looks over medical bills at his home inEmbudo earlier this month.

Los Alamos, the town thatmushroomed in secrecy,now hopes all eyes will beon it.

The television seriesManhattan premieres Sun-day night, and this one-hourweekly drama is shining aspotlight on Los Alamos,not New York City. A mix offact and fiction, the show isabout the Manhattan Projectscientists and staff memberswho built the first atomicbomb during World War II.

“Our work is so classifiedthe vice president doesn’tknow we exist,” one of theshow’s characters says in apreview clip.

It’s no wonder JohnNance Garner complainedthat being vice presidentwas not worth a bucket ofwarm spit. Garner left officebefore Manhattan begins in1943. Henry A. Wallace wasvice president by then and,apparently, in the dark.

Another character in theseries teaser makes it plainthat the characters in Man-hattan will be more thanpretty faces. “We have thehighest combined IQ of anytown in America,” he says.

Los Alamos hopes for ‘Manhattan’ boomCommunity eagerfor exposure newseries could bringBy Milan SimonichThe New Mexican

Discoveringthe truecost of care

T he bill totaled more than $21,000,and David Rigsby’s creditors werethreatening to heap on another$9,000 if he didn’t pay up.

Presbyterian Española Hospital hadcharged the sum for a colonoscopy andhernia repair in 2005. Both procedures tookabout an hour. Rigsby, a 66-year-old formervolunteer emergency medical technician,didn’t even spend the night in the hospital.

Rigsby paid $3,000 upfront and, becausehe was uninsured, the hospital granted hima $2,317 discount as a “self-pay” patient.

Still, the cost seemed awfully high toRigsby, so he began researching how hos-pitals set prices and whether the bill thathaunted him was correct. Rigsby’s quest ledhim to an assortment of advocacy groupsthat steered him to a secret buried deep inpatients’ billing records — the cost basis forhis bill.

What Rigsby discovered was the that cost

the hospital charges the federal governmentfor the same procedures under Medicarewas exponentially lower than what itcharged him. By law, the Medicare rate ofreimbursement is the amount the govern-ment estimates is the actual cost to a hospi-tal for providing a service, including facilitycosts, equipment and the medical personnelnecessary to perform it.

In Rigsby’s case, the total cost was$2,406.59 — nearly 10 times lower than hehad been billed, according to documentsRigsby shared with The New Mexican.

“It really is insane,” said Rigsby, who ulti-mately paid $9,630.60 of the five-figure bill,including $2,431 to the hospital’s collectionagency, before the hospital stopped pursu-ing the debt.

Rigsby caught on early to a trend that,thanks to provisions in the Affordable CareAct, has become abundantly apparent: Hos-pitals everywhere set medical prices that farexceed what Medicare estimates to be thecost of preforming those services.

“You’re shining a light on something that

has been in a black box for decades,” saidDr. Neel Shah, assistant professor at Har-vard Medical School and co-founder of thenonprofit Costs of Care, which advocatesfor lower costs and other reforms in thenation’s health care system. “What you’reseeing in New Mexico is representative ofwhat’s going on nationally.”

Wildly varying costsAccording to an analysis by The New

Mexican of hospital pricing data from 2012,released by the federal Centers for Medi-care and Medicaid Services, hospitals in thestate set prices for outpatients 547 percenthigher on average than the Medicare rateof reimbursement. Eastern New Mexico

By Patrick MaloneThe New Mexican

Steep markups hidden in hospital billsstrike blow to New Mexico’s uninsured

Please see COST, Page A-4

Actors perform clerical duties at military police headquarters onthe set of Manhattan. The show, a drama based in Los Alamos inthe 1940s, follows the lives of scientists and their families in therace to create the atomic bomb. LUKE E. MONTAVON/NEW MEXICAN FILE PHOTO

INSIDEu High prices raise questions about hospi-tals’ charity status. PAGE A-5

Sides disagreeon cease-fireIsrael agrees to extendtruce as Hamas resumesfiring rockets. PAGE A-3

Time for realnegotiationsPojoaque Pueblo’s gam-ing compact proposal is anonstarter. OUR VIEW, B-2

New  Mexico  Capital  City  Santa  Fe  HH  Penetra0on  30%  

Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010 News tips: 983-3035 BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.SANTAFENEWMEXICAN.COM

Calendar A-2 Classifieds E-10 Lotteries A-2 Family C-7 Opinions B-1 Real Estate E-1 Sports D-1 Time Out/crossword E-16Index

Pasapick‘Sylvia’ at Santa Fe PlayhouseThe New Mexico Actors Lab presents A.R.Gurney’s comedy, 4 p.m., Santa Fe Playhouse,142 E. De Vargas St., 988-4262, $20,discounts available, santafeplayhouse.org,Thursdays through Sundays through Aug. 17.More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridaysin Pasatiempo

TodayA p.m. shower orthunderstorm.High 76, low 55.

PAGE D-6

ObituariesJanine Anton,57, Santa Fe,July 24Jose O. AtilanoKarole ElaineFelts, Jan. 14Maxine S. Goad,83, July 28Joseph L.Griego, July 27Melissa D.Woodruff-Tometich-Hardee, June 7Richard GeorgeHiggins, 64,Santa Fe, July 29Jonathan Mark

North, June 30Lorenzo Padilla,82, July 28Yvonne J.Romero,July 24Helenn(Johnson)Rumpel, June 17Staff Sgt.(E6) JamesA. Sweeney,retired, 63,Santa Fe, July 29John Tull Jr.,June 25David E.Wunker, 62,Santa Fe, July 2

PAGES C-2, C-3

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Six sections, 78 pages

165th year, No. 215Publication No. 596-440

Santa Fe Real Estate Guide

August 2014

Locally owned and independent Sunday, August 3, 2014 www.santafenewmexican.com

Colorful east-side charmerwith history on the market Inside

$1.25

A mixed message on youngvoters and marijuana Opinions, B-1

Hundreds vie inGladiator Dash

More than 900 participate in 5-kilomteterrace that featured water hazards, 9-foot-tallramps and several mud pits. LOCAL NEWS, C-1

Thriving Children’sMuseum eyes future

After nar-rowly avoid-ing financialcollapse withsupport fromthe commu-nity, “castle”forges ahead.PAGE C-1

Touring teams lureLas Vegas All-StarsRobertson softball players havereservations about joining theLady Cardinals. SPORTS, D-1

Descent into the depths of

Snowy River

Back to school meansreturning to sleep routineHow to get your children to rise and shinefor the upcoming school year. FAMILY, C-7

Fort Stanton Cave/SnowyRiver

Albuquerque

Santa Fe

25

40

10

Rio Grande

The New Mexican

Las Cruces

Alamogordo

Roswell

Team of explorers mapping mineral-linedpassage deep inside Fort Stanton Cave

A caver peers down a new passage discovered this summer in the Fort Stanton-Snowy Rivercave complex. Cavers have mapped more than 10 miles of the Snowy River passage andsome of its side tunnels since 2001. COURTESY DEREK BRISTOL/BLM

By Staci MatlockThe New Mexican

In 2001, a team of cavers follow-ing a small flow of air hand-duga narrow passage through a dirtwall deep in the Fort Stanton

Cave in south-central New Mexico.When they finally squirmed throughthe cramped tunnel, they popped outinto a new passage carpeted with abrilliant white river of minerals. Theynamed the passage Snowy River.

“It was astounding,” Albuquerquebuilding contractor and dig teamleader Lloyd Swartz said four yearsafter the find. “We weren’t expectingit. We sat on a slope nearby and juststared at it for about five minutes.”

Since then, cavers have mappedmore than 10 miles of the SnowyRiver passage and some of its sidetunnels. Together with the Fort Stan-ton Cave, the mapped complex — at31.5 miles — is longer than CarlsbadCaverns, said explorer John Lyles.

There is no end in sight to theunusual passage, which sometimesflows with water from an unknownsource. One room of Snowy Riverfeatures stalactites that hum back tocavers. Teams of volunteer expertcavers, including seven from LosAlamos and Santa Fe, make a fewtrips a year to the cave to survey and Cavers Ian McMillan and John Lyles check out the

No Cave for Old Men room along the Snowy River pas-sage. COURTESY SEAN LEWIS/BLMPlease see SNOWY, Page A-4

Fort Stanton Cave

FINDINGSNOWYRIVERReaching theentrance toSnowy Riverrequires a milehike through FortStanton Cavenear Ruidoso insouth-centralNew Mexico.

Report calls forcostly changesin recycling andtrash services

Mayor seeksbus serviceto help boostS.F. nightlifeGonzales targets collegestudents with free shuttleto downtown areaBy Daniel J. ChacónThe New Mexican

Being a college student withouta car makes going out at night diffi-cult, especially in a city like Santa Fe,where public transportation grinds toa halt at 10 o’clock.

Just ask Fernanda Esquivel, a22-year-old student from MexicoCity who attends the Santa Fe Uni-versity of Art and Design.

“I guess because of the lack oftransportation, not including cabs,I didn’t go as often as I wanted to todowntown,” Esquivel said via Face-book on Thursday.

Esquivel and other universitystudents, as well as the general pub-lic, may have a new transportationoption starting Aug. 28.

Mayor Javier Gonzales is propos-ing a pilot project to provide freeshuttle service between the univer-sity on St. Michael’s Drive and down-town and the Santa Fe Railyard fromAug. 28 to Dec. 20.

“By opening up transportation toour downtown area and events, weare inviting an often under-servedsection of our population to safelytake advantage of Santa Fe in a whole

Please see BUS, Page A-4

Firm recommends 33.5 percentrate hike over four years to payfor plan, cover operational costsBy Daniel J. ChacónThe New Mexican

If you live in Santa Fe, you might soon be pay-ing more to get rid of your trash.

And if you are one of the environmentally con-scious residents who recycle as much as possible,you could be in for some other changes, as well.

A consultant’s recommendations for improvingwaste-disposal and recycling operations in boththe city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County wouldaffect area residents if decision-makers embracethe proposals.

A firm hired to study how local governmentscollect and dispose of solid waste and to evaluatethe community’s struggling recycling efforts rec-ommends new approaches that would come withsteep initial costs. The firm’s advice includes a33.5 percent increase in residential rates in thecity over four years — atop already authorizedrate hikes — to pay for the plan and to cover cur-rent operating costs.

“At present, the city’s residential fee of $12.96[a month] for fiscal year 2014, which escalatesannually at 3.2 percent, is not sufficient to recovercosts for residential refuse and recycling ser-vices,” Leidos Engineering LLC said in its reportto the city, made public last week.

The report shows an increasing deficit in thecity’s waste-disposal costs starting next fiscalyear under the current fee structure.

The consultant also recommends changes tothe city’s curbside recycling program that wouldrequire an upfront investment of $2.5 million,including spending for new trucks, containersand other equipment.

Please see SERVICES, Page A-7

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B-6 THE NEW MEXICAN Sunday, August 10, 2014 OPINIONS

MY VIEW: MANLEY ALLEN AND BETH SULTEMEIER

Easter Seals El Mirador: Setting the record straightFor the past year, we have

observed as our agency experi-enced the aggressive, abusive and

destructive treatment of our agencyand 14 others at the hand of the Behav-ioral Health Collaborative, Human Ser-vices Department and OptumHealth.

With heartbreak we have watchedleadership on our staff shocked asthey have and continue to be falselyaccused without due process. We arefurther disturbed as our agency andour leadership continues to be targetedby lies and innuendoes such as those ofDiana McWilliams (“Problems at Eas-ter Seals El Mirador were predictable,”My View, July 27).

During her tenure as the CEO ofthe Collaborative in New Mexico,McWilliams pretended to be a friendto our agency and to the entire behav-ioral health community, by promis-ing support, technical assistance andimproved leadership. She now decidesto write her opinion on issues in a

manner that is both inaccurate anddefamatory. Let us state the facts sinceit is obvious that McWilliams is inca-pable of reading and understanding apublic incident report.

Fact: The employee that our agencycaught embezzling money was nota “senior finance executive.” He wasa payroll clerk who was caught longbefore an outside “audit” was com-pleted. The employee was dealt withimmediately, turned in to law enforce-ment and is set to be prosecuted for hiscrimes. This incident is unrelated to thebehavioral health audit, even thoughMcWilliams tries to mislead the publicby tying the two issues together. Whenan illegal or inappropriate action isidentified at our agency, it is addressedimmediately. We don’t pretend that it isOK and wait three years to address it.

Fact: Easter Seals El Mirador explicitlyfollowed the laws established in thiscountry to protect the private healthinformation of individuals with sub-

stance abuse and mental illness. Ouragency protected medical records bymaintaining them at our Santa Fe facil-ity (not an “undisclosed location”) asrequired under federal law, an action towhich McWilliams and the Human Ser-vices Department’s corporate counselfailed to adhere. McWilliams failed tomention that the “court order” to whichshe referred in her piece was an orderthat was not signed by the judge whenpresented to Easter Seals El Mirado.

Fact: Immediately after the transitionto the Arizona provider, Easter SealsEl Mirador released numerous recordsupon consent by the client to the pro-vider of the client’s choice. The admit-ting health care provider is requiredto provide services with or without amedical file and without interruptionin service, the responsibility of theadmitting health care provider, not theformer provider, as McWilliams wouldhave you believe.

Fact: Easter Seals El Mirador always

cooperates with any government entityand the public in audits and surveys.We are a currently approved Medicaidprovider that complies with hundredsof service standards, oversight andoperational requirements. We havebeen deficiency free and/or in substan-tial compliance with more than53 reviews this year alone. The recordsspeak for themselves.

Without due process and in violation

of their civil rights, 13 providers wereput out of the behavioral health busi-ness. Individual reputations have beendestroyed. Hundreds of New Mexicanshave lost their jobs. Finally, and sadly,thousands of individuals with mentalhealth and substance issues have beenwithout services, disrupting their lives.

It will take years for all individuals toget back into recovery because of thedecisions by leaders like McWilliams,who left the state as soon as the truthbegan to surface. Her article illustratesthe lack of integrity of those respon-sible for this tragedy.

Manley Allen is a member of the EasterSeals El Mirador board of directors andhas been involved since 1998. He is aretired Coca Cola business executive.Beth Sultemeier is the current chair-woman of the board of directors ofEaster Seals El Mirador and has been amember since 2002. She is a real estatebroker in Española.

It will take yearsfor all individualsto get back intorecovery becauseof the decisionsby leaders likeMcWilliams.

MY VIEW:MARCK A. ROMERO

‘Bachelor’TV showunworthyof Santa Fe

Upon learning that TheBachelor reality programwas being brought to

Santa Fe at the cost of some$100,000 of our taxpayer dol-lars, I couldn’t help but vomit inmy mouth a little. Shouldn’t theproducers of this hideous trav-esty of a program be paying thecity of Santa Fe?

Now, don’t get me wrong. Iam grateful that our city andstate have brought the movieand Breaking Bad industry toour economy, and that the art of

moviemakingis taking placehere, but thisBachelor showis ridiculoussacrilege to thehuman psyche.It’s the kind ofstuff that trulyembarrassesAmerica.

As I’ve saidbefore, Sodom

and Gomorrah are alive andwell and thrive from this reality-drama-type stuff. Let’s face it,entities like Kim Kardashianand the gremlin called Snookieare setting grotesque examplesfor the little girlies of the nation.The so-called men on theseprograms are nothing morethan arrogant womanizers pro-moting the death of chivalry. Itis appalling that our city wouldwaste money on this garbagewhile we are in dire need ofvarious rehabilitation programsand homeless shelters.

Here, the Santa Fe City Coun-cil plans to fork out as much as$100,000 to attract promiscuous,greedy fornicators to our Cityof Holy Faith. Why? To attractmore customers to the liquorestablishments and increasethe number of drunken disor-derly arrests? Or maybe it’s adesperate attempt to achieveunwanted attention. As desper-ate as it definitely is, I don’t seehow this can be beneficial toSanta Fe or New Mexico as awhole, for that matter.

Breaking Bad brought ourstate a new artistic status. It is acult classic TV show.

How can we allow that, andour artistic culture, to be dimin-ished by this morally twistedhogwash? Well, we shouldn’tallow it. In fact, we as the guard-ians and inhabitants of thistown should have had a say inall of this monkey business.

My hopes are that the CityCouncil reconsiders this boldmistake and instead sets the barhigher as to what our city “offi-cials” will and will not bringinto our city.

Marck Romero was born andraised in Santa Fe. He has threechildren and is a musician, anartist (sketching/acrylics/wood-work) and a writer, having pub-lished his first book, Memoirs ofa Modern Madman, in June. Hegraduated from Santa Fe Com-munity College with honors lastyear and is now beginning stud-ies at New Mexico HighlandsUniversity.

Marck A.Romero

Submit Now! Deadline August 24th!Go to www.santafenewmexican.com/petcalendar

Now Accepting Pet Photosfor the 2015 Calendar Contest!

The Santa Fe New Mexican’s

CALENDAR

2015

Enter for achance towin a spotin the 2015

Calendar andPet Prizes!

Thank You to our2015 Pet Sponsors

For best publication, submit only horizontal format, close up,high resolution photos. Digital photos electronically

submitted are preferred! Subject must be ofanimal(s) only, no humans please.

Entry Form: Last day to remit, Aug. 24th, 5PM.

*Your name:___________________________________________________

Address:______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________(if paying by cc, provide address on cc billing statement)

Your phone: (day) ________________________ (evening) ___________________

e-mail: ) _________________________________________________________________

*Pet’s name: ______________________ Pet’s species: _______________

Payment method: $20 per pet (All registration fees are non-refundable)

CASH CHECK CHARGE MY CARD

Account # ____________________________________________________

Exp. Date: ______________ Security code: _____________

Name as it appears on the card: _________________________________(Mail or in person):The New Mexican, 202 East Marcy St., Santa Fe, NM 87501(In Person): 1 New Mexican Plaza, Santa Fe(Email): classad@sfnewmexican.com(By Phone): 505-986-3000Include S.A.S.E. for photo return*Published information

HOW THE CALENDAR CONTEST WORKS1. Entry forms and photos can be emailed, mailed or submitted in

person at the Santa Fe New Mexican. Register online at www.sfnewmexican.com/petcalendar.

2. Entry fee is $20 per pet, per photo.3. Your pet’s name and photo, and owner’s name will appear in The

Santa Fe New Mexican during the first voting period Sept. 5 throughSept. 19.

4. Anyone can vote for the pet(s) of their choice during the first votingperiod in person at The New Mexican, by phone, email or online for a$1 per vote.

5. The 25 pets with the most votes in the first round will advance tofinalist round.

6. Anyone can vote in finalist round for the pet(s) of their choice inperson at The New Mexican offices, by phone, email or online for $2per vote Sept. 26 through Oct. 3.

7. The 13 top vote getters from the finalist round will be featured in our2015 calendar, distributed to 22,000 households throughout SantaFe & Northern New Mexico in the Oct. 25 edition of The Santa FeNew Mexican and extra copies will be available at the Santa Fe NewMexican offices and our sponsor locations.

The Santa Fe New Mexican’s

CALENDAR

2015

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Locally owned and independent Sunday, July 27, 2014 www.santafenewmexican.com

Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010 News tips: 983-3035 BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.SANTAFENEWMEXICAN.COM

Calendar A-2 Classifieds E-10 Lotteries A-2 Family C-7 Opinions B-1 Real Estate E-1 Sports D-1 Time Out/crossword E-16Index Six sections, 48 pages

165th year, No. 208Publication No. 596-440

Locally owned and independentLocally owned and independent

Hospital workers union withdrawsstrike threat ahead of vote Page C-1

$1.25

Fuego beat Trinidad Triggers 7-3,stay alive to play in Game 3 Sports, D-1

While nearly all politicianssay they favor “transparency,”and the state has passed lawstrying to make it easier totrack sources of campaignmoney, in reality, it’s gettingharder and harder to deter-mine who is footing the bill.

Some blame the U.S.Supreme Court’s CitizensUnited decision, which over-turned limits on how muchindependent groups canspend in an election. But withthe continuing rise of politicalaction committees and super-PACs — not to mention the“social welfare” organizationsthat don’t even have to reportwho their contributors are— it can all look like a shellgame for those trying to fol-low the money.

New Mexico’s campaigncontribution limits went intoeffect two years ago, but thepractice of big PACs fun-neling money into smallerPACs has become a way toget around those limits. Andthis year, with Republicans

making a concentrated effortto seize control of the stateHouse of Representatives— currently held by Demo-crats 37-33 — PACs and otherpolitical organizations, bothstate and national, alreadyhave begun pouring moneyinto the state.

“It really is like a game ofWhac-a-Mole,” said formerstate Sen. Dede Feldman,D-Albuquerque, in talkingabout how efforts to stopbig money from influencingelections have only led todifferent ways for the moneyto flow. Feldman sponsoredthe 2009 bill that establishedcampaign contribution limits.When asked if the currentsituation is what she envi-sioned when she fought forthe law, she laughed. “Theword that comes to my mindis circumvent,” she said.

Feldman said CitizensUnited and the trend of moreoutside campaign moneycoming into the state hascontributed to the situation.And outside groups, she said,have changed the focus of

TodaySome clouds.High 90, low 61.

PAGE D-6

ObituariesJonathan Abrams,July 18Sophia St. Ange,July 11James “Jamie”Butler, 46, July 17Connie K. Carrillo,70, Pecos, July 24Joe LawrenceMascarenas, July 21Jean Caroline

Krahe Mee, July 17Daniel T.Rodriguez, 85,July 9Jacob M.Rodriguez, 90,Santa Fe, July 22Marian M. Schulz,92, July 21Rafaelita (Lita)M. Vigil, 82, July 15

PAGES C-2, C-3

PasapickContemporary Hispanic Market8 a.m.-5 p.m., Lincoln Avenue between East Palace Avenueand Marcy Street, no charge.

Traditional Spanish MarketHeritage market with more than 250 artists, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.,the Plaza, no charge.More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo

www.pasatiempomagazine.com

Planner helpscouples createdream weddings

Santa Fean Jessie Baca strives to coordinate events thatmatch her clients’ personalities. SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT, C-1

With creativePAC strategies,campaign cashskirts limitsFollowing the money gets complicatedwhen groups funnel funds to other PACs

By Steve TerrellThe New Mexican

Please see CASH, Page A-5

Please see BOOM, Page A-6

David Rigsby, who is uninsured, has been fighting two hospitals in the state that have billed him tens of thousands of dol-lars for two procedures. PHOTOS BY JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN

David Rigsby looks over medical bills at his home inEmbudo earlier this month.

Los Alamos, the town thatmushroomed in secrecy,now hopes all eyes will beon it.

The television seriesManhattan premieres Sun-day night, and this one-hourweekly drama is shining aspotlight on Los Alamos,not New York City. A mix offact and fiction, the show isabout the Manhattan Projectscientists and staff memberswho built the first atomicbomb during World War II.

“Our work is so classifiedthe vice president doesn’tknow we exist,” one of theshow’s characters says in apreview clip.

It’s no wonder JohnNance Garner complainedthat being vice presidentwas not worth a bucket ofwarm spit. Garner left officebefore Manhattan begins in1943. Henry A. Wallace wasvice president by then and,apparently, in the dark.

Another character in theseries teaser makes it plainthat the characters in Man-hattan will be more thanpretty faces. “We have thehighest combined IQ of anytown in America,” he says.

Los Alamos hopes for ‘Manhattan’ boomCommunity eagerfor exposure newseries could bringBy Milan SimonichThe New Mexican

Discoveringthe truecost of care

T he bill totaled more than $21,000,and David Rigsby’s creditors werethreatening to heap on another$9,000 if he didn’t pay up.

Presbyterian Española Hospital hadcharged the sum for a colonoscopy andhernia repair in 2005. Both procedures tookabout an hour. Rigsby, a 66-year-old formervolunteer emergency medical technician,didn’t even spend the night in the hospital.

Rigsby paid $3,000 upfront and, becausehe was uninsured, the hospital granted hima $2,317 discount as a “self-pay” patient.

Still, the cost seemed awfully high toRigsby, so he began researching how hos-pitals set prices and whether the bill thathaunted him was correct. Rigsby’s quest ledhim to an assortment of advocacy groupsthat steered him to a secret buried deep inpatients’ billing records — the cost basis forhis bill.

What Rigsby discovered was the that cost

the hospital charges the federal governmentfor the same procedures under Medicarewas exponentially lower than what itcharged him. By law, the Medicare rate ofreimbursement is the amount the govern-ment estimates is the actual cost to a hospi-tal for providing a service, including facilitycosts, equipment and the medical personnelnecessary to perform it.

In Rigsby’s case, the total cost was$2,406.59 — nearly 10 times lower than hehad been billed, according to documentsRigsby shared with The New Mexican.

“It really is insane,” said Rigsby, who ulti-mately paid $9,630.60 of the five-figure bill,including $2,431 to the hospital’s collectionagency, before the hospital stopped pursu-ing the debt.

Rigsby caught on early to a trend that,thanks to provisions in the Affordable CareAct, has become abundantly apparent: Hos-pitals everywhere set medical prices that farexceed what Medicare estimates to be thecost of preforming those services.

“You’re shining a light on something that

has been in a black box for decades,” saidDr. Neel Shah, assistant professor at Har-vard Medical School and co-founder of thenonprofit Costs of Care, which advocatesfor lower costs and other reforms in thenation’s health care system. “What you’reseeing in New Mexico is representative ofwhat’s going on nationally.”

Wildly varying costsAccording to an analysis by The New

Mexican of hospital pricing data from 2012,released by the federal Centers for Medi-care and Medicaid Services, hospitals in thestate set prices for outpatients 547 percenthigher on average than the Medicare rateof reimbursement. Eastern New Mexico

By Patrick MaloneThe New Mexican

Steep markups hidden in hospital billsstrike blow to New Mexico’s uninsured

Please see COST, Page A-4

Actors perform clerical duties at military police headquarters onthe set of Manhattan. The show, a drama based in Los Alamos inthe 1940s, follows the lives of scientists and their families in therace to create the atomic bomb. LUKE E. MONTAVON/NEW MEXICAN FILE PHOTO

INSIDEu High prices raise questions about hospi-tals’ charity status. PAGE A-5

Sides disagreeon cease-fireIsrael agrees to extendtruce as Hamas resumesfiring rockets. PAGE A-3

Time for realnegotiationsPojoaque Pueblo’s gam-ing compact proposal is anonstarter. OUR VIEW, B-2

Ginny  Sohn  Publisher  

ginny@sfnewmexican.com