NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A lot of the money the state put aside for hospitals in New Mexico is going unspent—hundreds of millions of dollars worth. State lawmakers heard a report about how public tax dollars are being used to fund hospitals Monday morning, and the data revealed information that shocked lawmakers. Story continues below Community: New Mexico friends celebrate 60 years of friendship at high school reunion Crime: Multiple hospitalized after five-vehicle crash in Albuquerque Don't Miss: First violin played in space made at shop in Albuquerque Trending: Family celebrates legacy of local architect and historic landmark in downtown Albuquerque "I think it would be worth our while to maybe pass legislation that says, if you don't provide us data, financial data that we need, we don't give you any more money," said Rep. Elizabeth Thomson (D-Albuquerque). State lawmakers expressed frustration over a new report from the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) concerning taxpayer money being poured into hospitals across New Mexico. The report had four main findings: first, that hospitals became less profitable between 2022 and 2023. However, "While net income may have declined, hospitals are still making a significant amount of money in revenue," said Allegra Hernandez, senior fiscal analyst for the LFC. Analysts said the money is going elsewhere: "The hospital cost reports indicate that non-cash investments increased greatly during this period. This means that hospitals are creating changes to bad debt, corporate overhead allocations, and depreciation; and this explains the gap between increasing revenue and declining net income," Hernandez said. Hernandez explained to lawmakers that 'non-cash investments' or 'adjustments' meant these hospitals were sending money back to their parent company, using it for capital outlay, or write-off purposes. Second, the reports show the state invested hundreds of millions into hospitals and rural providers for start-up services, but to date, the money hasn't been touched. "In FY25, the legislature investment $121 million of nonrecurring appropriations into hospitals, yet hospitals were not dispersed any funds as of September," Hernandez said. Third: "The Healthcare Quality, Delivery, and Access Act performance measures do no include metrics measuring healthcare outcomes and access, which is included in the name of the act over the next five years," Hernandez said. Lastly, the report raised concerns over private-equity firm-owned hospitals in the state. "New Mexico has the highest proportion of hospitals owned by private equity in the country, with 38 percent or 17 out of 43 hospitals owned by private equity firms," Hernandez said, "National peer-reviewed research demonstrates that quality of care, and number of patients treated decline when hospitals are owned by private equity firms." "These hospitals are likely to charge more per inpatient day, experience higher cost-to-charge ratios for emergency departments, and total cost to charge ratios," Hernandez said. The presentation made lawmakers ask: why haven't hospitals spent the money? "Is there so much red tape involved in accessing money that that's why we're having such a hard time expending the money?" asked Rep. Harlan Vincent (R-Ruidoso Downs). They asked where the money is going, and why it was so difficult to get data and information from these hospitals, especially after it came to light that the LFC had to make an official request for the documentation. "It's ridiculous that the overseeing body, the legislature, has to IPRA to get information [and] then they're asking us for hundreds of millions of dollars and we can't know who's doing what or where the money is going," Thomson said. The report also shows medical malpractice in hospitals in the report has risen only slightly compared to what lawmakers expected. The report did not name any hospital owned by a private-equity firm and did not outline how they spent their money. Analysts did say most hospitals in the report were still profitable.