Medicaid

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.

CARSON CITY – The state Board of Examiners, including Gov. Brian Sandoval, today approved a contract worth up to $72 million through 2016 to set up the information technology system needed to implement the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange.

The contract with Xerox State Healthcare will allow the state to move forward with the exchange, basically a one-stop shop for purchasing health insurance. The exchanges were authorized by the Affordable Care Act, most of which was upheld in a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June.

CARSON CITY – States do not face any deadline for deciding whether to expand their Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and will be able to expand coverage and then later chose to reduce it, federal officials told Governing magazine on Monday.

Many women in rural Nevada have never had a mammogram. Fear, lack of funds, transportation conflicts, or no insurance are just some of the reasons women have not protected themselves against breast cancer. Yet, we know that early detection of breast cancer saves lives.

LAS VEGAS – State senate Majority Leader and 4th Congressional District candidate Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, said he supports the federal health care law that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in late June.

Dating back to Republican President Theodore Roosevelt (1904) he and every president since has toyed with some kind of a health care plan, but none have had the appetite to place their political careers on the line for it with the exception of President Barrack Obama.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today he needs a lot of questions answered before he can decide whether to expand Medicaid eligibility in Nevada, and that it could take several months to resolve all the uncertainties.

“There’s no specific time schedule,” he said. “I mean I understand right now we’ve had the Supreme Court decision. Everyone has been waiting for that. I think there are still people that are trying to interpret it.

CARSON CITY – Nevada officials are busy preparing cost and enrollment estimates so Gov. Brian Sandoval will have reliable information before deciding whether to expand Medicaid following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month upholding much of the Affordable Care Act.

The Sierra Nevada Health Center in Carson City will hold a grand opening July 16 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The public is invited.
A ribbon cutting ceremony will feature a reception, with refreshments, hors d’oeuvres, entertainment, raffle prizes and guided tours. Keynote speakers include: Mayor Bob Crowell, William G. Gordon, Board Chairman of Nevada Health Centers, Inc., and Thomas G. Chase, CEO of Nevada Health Centers, Inc.

CARSON CITY – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today that Nevada is among 40 states where people with Medicare can receive health care from an Accountable Care Organization (ACO).

ACOs are organizations formed by groups of doctors and other health care providers that have agreed to work together to coordinate care for people with Medicare.

CARSON CITY – Marcia Giller, 76, of Reno, has been sentenced to prison for two felony offenses of submitting false Medicaid claims, the Attorney General’s office announced this week.

Washoe County District Judge Steven Kosach sentenced Giller on Tuesday to 18 to 48 months imprisonment for each count, to be served consecutively, and additionally ordered Giller to pay $226,000 in restitution, penalties and costs.

CARSON CITY – About $87 million in state taxes that could be parlayed into 10 times as much to pay for critical road improvements are ready to flow to the state Department of Transportation next year, but there are concerns the money could be diverted to other needs.

CARSON CITY – Three of the Republicans seeking the right to challenge state Democratic Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford for Nevada’s new 4^th Congressional District seat sought to establish their conservative credentials in a televised debate today.

CARSON CITY – Assembly Speaker and 3^rd Congressional District candidate John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, declined today to say whether he supports the federal health care law now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Oceguera, who is termed out of office in the Assembly, said it is premature to comment on the law given the fact that it is awaiting a decision on its constitutionality by the nation’s high court.

CARSON CITY – The head of Nevada’s Department of Health and Human Services said today that as many as 150,000 more residents will be eligible for Medicaid coverage if the federal health care law is found constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today that a recent deal announced with Amazon.com to collect sales taxes from on-line purchases in Nevada beginning in January 2014 is only the tip of the iceberg.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s top state administrators gathered together in meeting rooms and via the internet today to hear first-hand about Gov. Brian Sandoval’s initial plans for his 2013-15 budget.

The all-day meeting called “Budget Kickoff” was intended to provide instructions to state administrators on how to begin preparing their spending plans for the new two-year budget that will take effect on July 1, 2013.

Carson City, Nev. (March 13, 2012) – As Nevada faces yet another challenge in national health rankings, the Nevada Health Centers, Inc. takes a stand to improve health access in the Silver state. Nevada Health Centers, Inc. (NVHC), a non-profit organization, has built a 21,000-square-foot health facility dedicated to helping people in our local area receive access to health care. The new building will double the space of , the existing health center and will also house the administration staff. There will be additional space to see more patients. Nevada Health Centers, Inc.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today he will propose to extend a package of taxes now set to expire in June 2013 into the next budget to avoid further cuts to education, which he said cannot withstand further reductions.

To maintain a basically flat spending plan for the two-year budget that will begin on July 1, 2013, Sandoval said the modified business tax that was maintained at a higher rate for large businesses in the 2011 legislative session, along with a small increase in the sales tax, must be continued.

CARSON CITY – A firm hired in January to take over operation of the state’s Medicaid billing and information systems has failed to complete the first key step in the process by an August deadline and has been given an extension to Dec. 5.

CARSON CITY – An audit of the Nevada State Veterans’ Home identified more than $600,000 in late and inaccurate billings, primarily to Medicare and Medicaid, a panel of lawmakers heard today.
While the late billings won’t affect the ultimate payments received from these programs, the audit identified late billings to residents of the Boulder City skilled nursing home who are paying their own way that could mean a loss of revenue.

CARSON CITY – Nevada State Controller Kim Wallin announced today that a Fraud Hotline has been posted on her agency’s website in order to assist both the public and state employees in reporting questionable practices.

CARSON CITY – In advance of a new, earlier annual enrollment period, people with Medicare can now begin reviewing plan benefit and cost information via a popular web-based Medicare Plan Finder operated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The plan finder lets beneficiaries, their families, trusted representatives, and senior program advocates to look at all local drug and health plan options that are available for the 2012 benefit year. It became available Saturday.

CARSON CITY – It isn’t just fraud, but waste and abuse of Medicaid funds that state officials are taking aim at as the cost of the health insurance program for children, seniors and the disabled continues to climb.
Charles Duarte, administrator of the state Division of Health Care Financing and Policy, which oversees the Medicaid program, said efforts to identify fraud, waste and abuse have been stepped up since 2005 when only two staff in his office were dedicated to these important tasks.

For the first time in 10 years, states cut taxes more than they increased them, according to a preliminary report released last week by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).
But voters should not draw hasty conclusions about what this means for states’ fiscal health. Most states continued to face substantial budget shortfalls during their 2011 legislative sessions, even though some states saw revenue collections increase.

CARSON CITY – Medicaid fraud is a growing problem here and around the country, and two different Nevada agencies are tasked with investigating cases and returning ill-gotten taxpayer dollars to the program.

A new report on the financial outlook for the nation’s states says Nevada could reach a debt-driven “tipping point” in 2034.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s skilled nursing homes avoided the deepest cuts initially proposed by the Sandoval administration to pay for serving Medicaid clients, but the reimbursement rate is still inadequate to cover actual costs, an industry official said today.
The industry is also concerned that any resolution to the federal deficit discussions under way in Washington, DC, could further exacerbate the economic challenges facing it, said Daniel Mathis, chief executive officer of the Nevada Health Care Association.

The federal government is more generous to some states than others and least of all to Nevada, according to an analysis by Federal Funds Information for States (FFIS) which tracks budget policy across the nation.
Some states receive fewer federal dollars because they operate relatively modest Medicaid programs that trigger a smaller amount of matching federal money.

CARSON CITY –The state office created to help guide Nevadans through the complex maze of health care billing and access to care has a new director starting tomorrow.
Marilyn Wills has been named director of the Office of Consumer Health Assistance by Mike Willden, director of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).