Breaking New Ground in New Mexico: Launching an Equity-Driven PAT Pilot in Collaboration with State Leadership and Community Health Leaders
As mental health challenges and substance use disorders continue to rise, innovative approaches to treatment are more urgent than ever. PMHA is stepping up to meet this need with our first pilot project in New Mexico—an equity-driven effort to integrate psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) into existing community health systems. This pioneering initiative aims to create a scalable model that could ultimately influence state and federal policies, making PAT more accessible for marginalized communities across the United States.
New Mexico's Innovative Path to Accessible Psychedelic-Assisted Care
The current state of the psychedelic ecosystem has taken two distinct approaches: the federal FDA-approval path and the state regulated path – both are critical for Psychedelic Assisted Therapy (PAT) to reach a wide audience. However, New Mexico is developing a potential third way forward that may well provide the quickest path towards scaling mental health treatment through safe, accessible, and legal PAT. Together we are exploring how to create access to PAT through a care model that includes community mental health, social supports, and community engagement as critical components - for both state-regulated and FDA-approval pathways - to ensure that psychedelics are a successful health intervention for marginalized populations.
Despite the FDA's recent decision regarding Lykos’ MDMA-AT, the federal pathway still exists for medicines to come to market in the next 2-4 years. However, early indications from Lykos, Compass, and others indicate that the cost of treatment will be in the thousands of dollars per session, far outside what is affordable for most people, let alone those from marginalized communities.
The state-regulated approaches that Oregon and Colorado have undertaken are providing access to many, but are proving costly to run for businesses and expensive for patients to receive treatment. These state regulated models are direct-to-consumer, and not specifically designed to lower cost to increase accessibility and plans for making treatment accessible to marginalized communities are in their infancy.
In New Mexico, a fortuitous moment has emerged that has real promise to create systemic change in who has affordable access to these treatments. The New Mexico Legislature has passed legislation to explore the therapeutic use of psilocybin and other psychedelics for multiple conditions such as PTSD/trauma, substance use disorders, and end-of-life care. What’s novel is that government decision-makers are exploring ways this can be done in partnership with the Department of Health (including Medicaid) which will include working with existing community health systems to create treatments that the state could cover. Rather than setting up a separate marketplace, they want to work within the existing community health infrastructure to make a lasting difference in the state’s mental health crises.
The collaboration brings together the New Mexico Legislative and Executive branches (Department of Health— including Medicaid), the University of New Mexico, and the Bernalillo County Community Health Equity Council. Together with our infrastructure development partners the UC Berkeley Collaborative for the Economics of Psychedelics and the Camden Coalition, this project is laying the foundation for an integrated care model designed to meet the needs of underserved populations.
The Pilot’s Conditions in Focus: PTSD and Opioid Use Disorder
The pilot targets several groups: veterans and first responders with PTSD and individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). These conditions were chosen not only because of their significant societal impact but also due to the current limitations of available treatments. Both PTSD and OUD are deeply intertwined with trauma, adverse childhood experiences, and systemic inequities, making them prime candidates for innovative therapeutic approaches like PAT.With New Mexico’s population being over 50% Hispanic or Latino and 11% Native American, the pilot will leverage these diverse demographics to recruit participants, creating an opportunity to address the unique needs of these historically underserved communities.
The study aims to use a non-proprietary, whole-mushroom psilocybin product. This approach reflects the state’s preference for a cost-effective, scalable solution that maintains safety and efficacy while expanding access for marginalized communities.
Designing a PAT Model Committed to Equity and Accessibility
At the heart of PMHA’s New Mexico pilot is a commitment to designing a state-fundable (including Medicaid), psychedelic-assisted therapy care model that prioritizes equity and accessibility. This innovative care model is built upon four key components, each designed to address the unique barriers to care that impact marginalized communities disproportionately:
Following the Health Equity Field: Centering Community Driven Care Design
We are proud to partner with the Bernalillo County Community Health Equity Council to lead this critical portion of the New Mexico pilot. Their leadership ensures that our model is informed by the voices, needs, and lived experiences of the communities it serves. This approach fosters trust, shared ownership, and long-term impact, setting a new standard for equity-informed PAT care models.
Phase 1 of this pilot is focused on community engagement. We are working on ensuring the community is involved in helping to select the support services and culturally resonsant practices for the study, that will have the most benefit to the success of PAT for the specific focus communities. Getting communities involved in creating health programs isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a game-changer. A systematic review published in BMC Public Health (BioMed Central, a top open-access journal) found that when communities are actively engaged, health interventions get a serious upgrade: better behaviors, stronger outcomes, and more empowered participants. According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, community-engaged research builds trust, bridges gaps, and reduces health disparities by making sure solutions are laser-focused on what people actually need.
Group Therapy Format
Leveraging a group-based therapeutic model reduces costs while enhancing outcomes through shared experiences and peer support. This approach not only makes the treatment more accessible but also amplifies its impact by fostering a sense of community and collective healing.
Mapping and Leveraging Equity and Access Support Services
An organizing system for this model is the creation of an “Equity and Access Support Ecosystem” (EASE), which maps and mobilizes local community services to support participants before, during, and after their therapeutic experiences. These services may include: travel and food support, linguistic and language support, childcare services, housing assistance, and psychedelic peer support training for family/support members.
By integrating these services into the care model, the pilot reduces logistical and economic barriers that often prevent marginalized individuals from accessing care.
Ongoing Integration Support
To support lasting healing, the model provides at least nine months of ongoing integration support through a combination of tele-health, mobile-apps, peer-led support, and in-person and virtual group sessions. For marginalized communities, this sustained care is vital, offering the tools and connections needed to turn therapeutic breakthroughs into lasting transformation. Integration also strengthens the model’s impact, reducing relapse rates and other downstream costs, ensuring both personal and systemic benefits.
Together, these components ensure that the New Mexico care model pilot addresses some of the systemic barriers to care faced by marginalized communities, creating a replicable and scalable framework for equitable access to these life-changing therapies.
Laying the Foundation for Nationwide Impact
PMHA’s work in New Mexico represents the first pilot for y integrating equity-informed PAT models of care into existing health systems. At the same time, we are building a comprehensive data set and database with the UC Berkeley Collaborative for the Economics of Psychedelics that will allow this work to have impact beyond New Mexico, PMHA will begin building the case to influence Medicaid decision-makers with the specific information needed to assess cost, equity, and outcomes, paving the way for PAT to be integrated into Medicaid’s existing structures.
This pilot serves as a critical first step. With its success, PMHA aims to launch larger studies that can collect more comprehensive evidence on the efficacy of care, and value of equity-informed PAT models. These expanded efforts will build on the data and insights gained in New Mexico, further strengthening the case for Medicaid coverage and expanding equitable access to ensure these life-changing therapies reach those who can benefit most.
The lessons learned in New Mexico will inform efforts we seek to initiate in New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, California and Indiana, with the goal of expanding Medicaid-fundable, equity-informed PAT models of care to 10 states by 2034. Each step brings us closer to creating a national framework for equitable, accessible psychedelic-assisted therapy.