Time running out on effort to get federal funds for UMC

A bill that would give Clark County authority to apply for federal matching health care funds faces a Senate vote on Monday.

The Senate Committee on Human Resources passed Senate Bill 520 on April 9 with amendments. Last Friday was the deadline for bills to be passed from committees, unless amendments were made or a bill had a fiscal impact.

Bill Hale, chief executive officer of University Medical Center, asked for the legislation authorizing the county to act like the state and seek federal funds that the state doesn't try to obtain. He estimates that the county could qualify for between $10 million and $30 million in matching federal money for people who don't qualify for Medicaid because they make too much money.

If approved by the Senate, SB520 will go to the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee. The bill must be passed by the committee by May 14 and voted on by the Assembly by May 21.

If either the Senate fails to vote on Monday or the Assembly committee doesn't act on it, SB520 could be a dead issue.

"This bill allows the county to form a medically needy program and that's desirable," said Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, chairman of the Senate Human Resources Committee. "We will have to allow the other counties to do the same thing, but more people will be served, and that will be beneficial."

Hale is seeking the federal funds because the county hospital, which is supported with taxpayers' money, lost $30 million in fiscal year 1997 to unpaid indigent care, according to a recently released UNLV report.

The UNLV report, "Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance and Uncompensated Care: The Role of the University Medical Center in Clark County," also showed that the medical center paid $10 million in fiscal year 1997 for employed patients who had insufficient or no health care coverage.

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