Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

State board OKs emergency funds in planning for health reform

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Gov. Jim Gibbons

CARSON CITY – In what is described as the "tip of the iceberg," the state Department of Health and Human Services has gained preliminary approval for $279,119 in emergency funds to begin planning for the new massive federal health law.

Michael Willden, director of the department, estimates 19 percent of Nevadans, or 525,000 residents, have no health insurance and must be covered by 2015 by the new law pushed through by President Obama.

By 2019, the new law will have cost state taxpayers an estimated $575 million, Willden told the state Board of Examiners, which approved the planning request.

Gov. Jim Gibbons, chairman of the examiners board, has disagreed with the new law and is leading a move to file suit to challenge its validity. “But the law is the law and I will not put the people in direct violation of the federal law.”

He said the $279,119 was the “tip of the iceberg” and the allocation must gain final approval from the Legislative Interim Finance Committee.

Willden told the board there were a “ton of unknowns” in the federal law. He has a committee composed of representatives from several agencies to examine the law and determine what must be done.

By the end of this month, the state must decide whether it will establish a “high-risk pool” to provide health coverage for those who cannot qualify for insurance.

Fourteen states have decided not to form their own pool. Willden said Nevada must choose whether to form its own pool, join another state or let the federal government cover these individuals.

The standards for the Medicaid program, which provides coverage for low-income citizens, are being raised to make more people eligible. There are now 260,000 people enrolled and it is estimated there will be an additional 150,000 eligible by 2014.

“Our system can’t handle it,” he said, explaining the need for the planning money.

Gibbons said the planning effort could be terminated if the lawsuit by a number of states against the law is successful.

Willden said $37 million to $38 million alone will be required to “deal with a whole barrel of automation issues.” In addition, he said, more people will be needed to manage the growth of those being covered by insurance and the state welfare system needs to be overhauled.

He said the federal government will pay the full cost of the added persons enrolled in the Medicaid program for the first three years and then Nevada must start chipping in.

Willden said the state is facing a federal deadline almost every month to comply with the new law.

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