Economic damages: the documented, countable losses
Economic damages are the straightforward, receipt-backed part of a claim. In a New Mexico personal injury case, this generally includes medical expenses already incurred, lost wages from time away from work, property damage, and reasonably anticipated future lost earning capacity tied directly to the injury.
Non-economic damages: the subjective losses
Non-economic damages cover the losses that don't come with a receipt: pain, suffering, and similar nonpecuniary harm. These are inherently harder to quantify, which is exactly why the multiplier method exists — to translate a documented economic figure into a reasoned estimate of the non-economic side.
A cap that excludes two whole categories entirely
New Mexico's Medical Malpractice Act cap is unusual in exactly what it covers. Rather than capping noneconomic damages alone the way many states do, both tracks of New Mexico's cap combine economic and noneconomic damages into one ceiling — but then specifically carve out punitive damages and past and future medical care and related benefits, which are paid separately through a different mechanism and are never subject to either cap figure, no matter how large.
Why this carve-out matters for a catastrophically injured plaintiff
This structure means the practical impact of the cap depends heavily on how much of a specific claim's value sits in medical care costs versus other damages. A claim with enormous future medical care needs can still recover those costs in full, uncapped, even while the remaining damages bump against the $6 million or $1 million ceiling, depending on the provider track.
Why it matters less outside malpractice
For an ordinary New Mexico personal injury case, no category is capped at all. The split still matters for how the claim is proven — economic damages with bills and records, noneconomic damages through a method like the multiplier approach — but it doesn't determine what can ultimately be recovered the way it does in a malpractice claim.