CARSON CITY – The Nevada State Medical Association has announced it supports expanding Nevada’s Medicaid caseload as permitted under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

The association’s board of directors met on Sept. 8 and adopted the policy statement, which was based on the information currently available about the expansion of the Medicaid program.

Photo by Debora Cartagena/CDC.

“We believe that this is necessary to assure that there is not a new class of uninsured Nevadans created by a gap in the PPACA coverage plan,” said the statement by the association, released Wednesday.

“Nevada physicians are concerned that this does not improve the current Medicaid program, which is significantly underfunded,” the statement said. “Current payment levels have made it increasingly difficult for physicians and hospitals to maintain their availability for Medicaid patients. This has become particularly true for children with disabling conditions or chronic illnesses and for women facing high-risk births.”

As a result, the association said it is urging Gov. Brian Sandoval and the Legislature to “address the access to care needs of the patients who are, and will continue to be, covered by the current Medicaid program.”

The Nevada State Medical Association is Nevada’s oldest and largest physician advocacy organization.

The authorized Medicaid expansion is still under review by the Sandoval Administration. If recommended by Sandoval and approved by the Legislature in 2013, it would take effect on Jan. 1, 2014 for Nevadans up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The potential caseload expected under such an expansion is still being analyzed.

Federal funding would pay for 100 percent of any Medicaid expansion for the first three calendar years beginning in 2014, with the state required to pick up a percentage of the cost beginning in 2017. The first year state cost is 5 percent, in 2018 the state cost is 6 percent, in 2019 the state cost is 7 percent, and in 2020, the state cost is 10 percent.

The expansion in Nevada would mostly cover childless adults who are not covered by the state program now.

Nevada is already moving forward with its Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, which will offer eligible residents the opportunity to purchase health insurance beginning on Oct. 1, 2013.

Meanwhile, data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that Nevada’s uninsured population continues to increase. While the rate nationally declined by 0.5 percent to 16 percent between 2008-09 and 2010-11, Nevada’s rate increased 2.7 percent in that same time period, to 22 percent.