insurance

By Erich Obermayr
Silver City, Nevada —population around 200 — is a small, unincorporated community in rural northwestern Nevada. It is located along State Route 342, in Gold Canyon, 3.5 miles from Virginia City. It lies within the Virginia City National Historic Landmark and the Comstock Historic District. The nearest large cities are Reno, 20 miles to the north, and Carson City, 9 miles to the southwest.

CARSON CITY – A state lawmaker testified today that the federal government’s unfunded mandates on issues such as clean air, clean water and flood zones are imposing costs on Nevada taxpayers without authority or justification.

CARSON CITY – The governor has proposed taking funds school districts are using for emergency repairs to help balance the state budget.
School districts have said this would leave them with little money to fix broken boilers and leaky roofs or perform other emergency repairs.
“We don’t have any money set aside right now to cover those expenses if the governor’s proposal moves forward,” said Craig Hulse from the Washoe County School District before a Senate committee reviewing the governor’s proposal.

CARSON CITY – A Republican state senator has proposed his own idea for job creation: A break on the modified business tax for new employees hired by employers after July 1, 2011.
Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Gardnerville, said Senate Bill 199 would exempt new employees hired by Nevada businesses from the tax as an incentive to add workers to their payrolls. Co-sponsors include five other Republican lawmakers. The measure was introduced Monday.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – A new study shows support for Gov. Brian Sandoval’s plan to implement President Barack Obama’s national health care reform law.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the top concern for Nevadans age 50 and older, according to a survey released Thursday.

AARP released its statewide survey that looks at the challenges, concerns and dreams of older adults in the state. The telephone survey was made up of 401 random Nevada residents aged 50 and over was conducted between Jan. 2 and Jan. 31. It has sampling error of plus or minus five percent.

A Carson City man was arrested and faces multiple felony charges after he admitted to stealing and pawning an iPad and a prized WWF belt from a man with multiple sclerosis whom he lived with.

David J. Catalani, 32, is being held on $55,000 bail. He told authorities he pawned the victim's possessions in order to pay for domestic violence classes.

By Andrew Dougman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevadans denied health insurance for pre-existing conditions are now guaranteed coverage via a federally funded health insurance program.
In the past, it’s been either costly or impossible to find coverage if someone has a health condition requiring frequent or expensive treatment.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevada state legislators may catch a break under a debt-relief proposal from President Barack Obama.
Obama has proposed deferring interest payments on money the states have borrowed to pay unemployment insurance benefits.

CARSON CITY – Nevadans could pay up to $625,684 to consultants who are helping the state implement the controversial federal health care reform law under a state contract.
The contract with Massachusetts-based Public Consulting Group allows up to that level of spending through June 30, 2012.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY — The director of Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles had a surprising announcement for Nevada’s motorists yesterday.
Bruce Breslow, the DMV’s new director, said that the department has had no effective way to tell who has insurance and who doesn’t.

CARSON CITY – The logic of Gov. Brian Sandoval goes something like this: If you’re going to make me do it, let me do it my way.

Lela Branstetter, a senior at Pioneer High School, is participating in the Miss Carson City Pageant this year. The pageant will be held on February 19, 2011. This pageant is a preliminary stage for the Miss America pageant system.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
A Florida judge ruled today that a key provision of President Barack Obama’s health care reform law is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson, a Ronald Reagan appointee serving in Pensacola, Fla., ruled in favor of the 26 states that argued the law’s provision that imposes penalties on people who don’t purchase health insurance is unconstitutional.

CARSON CITY – It’s a rare occurrence that a governor calls a federal law “unconstitutional” one minute and advocates implementing that same law a minute later.

But that’s what happened earlier this week when Gov. Brian Sandoval called for Nevada to move forward with creating the Nevada Health Insurance Exchange, one of the mandates under the Obama administration’s 2010 health care bill.

CARSON CITY – Democrats grilled the governor’s budget director during a hearing following the release of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed budget yesterday.
Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, accused the governor of stifling job creation by “robbing” $44 million out of the state’s highway fund.
The governor’s proposed budget would divert $44 million from the highway fund to two state operating funds.
Horsford said that the money the governor proposes to transfer could be bonded against, which could create infrastructure jobs.

CARSON CITY – A proposal in Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget to raise $190 million in revenue by securitizing the state’s insurance premium tax was called “questionable fiscal discipline” today by Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford.
Sandoval Chief of Staff Heidi Gansert said the proposal is a “last resort” to be employed if needed to maintain essential services in health and human services and public education.

By Andrew Doughman / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – Nevada’s unemployment-insurance benefit fund could be in the red until 2018 as the state continues to borrow from the federal government to keep sending unemployment checks.

Carl Kuhl, a state Parole and Probation employee of six years, has created a plan that he claims will eliminate Nevada's budget deficit within two years.

In a news release issued on Tuesday, Kuhl said his plan not only will reduce the budget deficit but also help repair Nevada's economy at the same time. It is a pretty big claim, he admits, coming from an Accounting Assistant I, an entry level position.

A Carson City man who told officers he drank three 24-ounce cans of beer faces a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence after he pulled his car into a driveway and then backed into a patrol car.

According to the arrest report, officers spotted the man early Monday afternoon driving his vehicle about 10 miles over the 25 mph posted speed limit south on Northgate Lane. The arresting officer attempted to pull the man over, but he kept driving until he got to Dyer Court where he pulled into a driveway.

The liberal blogs are all in a tizzy about how President Barack Obama "caved" to Republicans, agreeing to extend the Bush tax cuts for everyone, not just those making under $250,000 a year as he said he wanted.

Some are saying that Obama has been seriously damaged by this episode, looking weak and handing the narrative and momentum to the GOP, and that he might have a tough time getting reelected in 2012.

CARSON CITY – Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval said today he is pleased with the ruling by a federal judge in Virginia finding a key element of the new national health care law unconstitutional.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
CARSON CITY – The Nevada State Medical Association believes consumers should have access to clear and understandable information about the cost and coverage provided under health care insurance policies before they sign on the dotted line.

A Dayton man faces multiple drug charges and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.

Ian Miles Lister, 33, was arrested in the 400 block of Saliman Road in Carson City at around 5:30 this morning after an officer spotted his vehicle committing several traffic violations.

Lister provided his license to the officer but was unable to provide proof of insurance or his vehicle registration. Dispatch informed the officer that his license had been revoked, according to the arrest report.

U.S. Congressman Dean Heller, R-Carson City, today came out in support of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Continuation Act (H.R. 6419) which would extend unemployment benefits for an additional three months.

By Nevada News Bureau staff
CARSON CIY — Average wait times at the Department of Motor Vehicles’ busiest offices have dropped to under 60 minutes due to upgrades to the agency’s computer system using federal grant money.

By Nevada News Bureau staff
CARSON CITY – The private attorney working on Nevada’s challenge to the new national health care law says a federal judge in Florida should rule on the case by January, setting the stage for an appeal that ultimately is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

(Updated at 11:45 a.m. on Oct. 21, 2010, to include Gov. Gibbons comments.)
Questionable attack ads and the role of the federal government in job creation were the top issues in an energized debate Wednesday between Rep. Dina Titus and Republican challenger Joe Heck in one of the most closely watched house races of the Nov. 2 general election.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
A much-anticipated face-to-face debate between U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and his GOP opponent Sharron Angle on Thursday displayed stark contrasts between the two candidates but provoked little in the way of controversy.

By Sean Whaley / Nevada News Bureau
Taxes, the state budget and a looming revenue shortfall in 2011 took center stage Thursday in the second debate between the two major party candidates for Nevada governor.