healthcare safety-net on the edge & in the news (click link for full report)

• Monday, February 9, 2009 - Public News Service NV
   
  • Stimulus Moves Forward at Cost to Nevada
    Las Vegas, NV – The U.S. Senate is expected to take a final vote soon on its version of the federal economic stimulus package. Some Nevadans says it's good news, but comes at a cost. Unlike the plan that passed the House of Representatives, this plan puts a greater emphasis on tax cuts, and a bipartisan compromise removed more than $80 billion that would have gone to states like Nevada.
     
• Wednesday, February 2, 2009 - Las Vegas Sun
   
  • Nevada leaving money on table
    If state spent more on children's insurance, U.S. would match it
     
• Friday, January 30, 2009 - Las Vegas Sun
   
  • Health Ranking Puts Nevada Near Bottom
    State is last in high school graduation and child immunization - Nevada ranks high in the number of drivers using seatbelts. But it’s at or near the bottom nationally in such health issues as the number of nurses or the number of children who receive preventive medical and dental care.  Nevada also has the worst percentage of children enrolled in Medicaid and the lowest percentage of children who are immunized.
     
• Thursday, January 29, 2009 - Senator Reid
   
  • News Release - SCHIP
    Washington, DC—Nevada Senator Harry Reid made the following statement today after the U.S. Senate passed H.R.2, Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, ensuring children they get the doctor visits and medicines they need when they’re sick and the checkups they need to stay well: ....
     
• Wednesday, January 28,2009 - MSNBC
   
  • Healthcare Headache for Small Business
    It's getting ugly out there for small business owners that have been struggling to keep on paying high health insurance premiums for themselves and their workers. So ugly, in fact, that more and more are just dropping coverage. (90% of employers are small businesses)
     

• Wednesday, January 28, 2009 - Wall Street Journal
   
  • States Take Aim At Medicaid
    At least 25 states have enacted or proposed cuts in health-insurance programs for the poor, potentially leaving millions of patients with reduced levels of care or no coverage at all. (Much information about Nevada)
     
• Saturday, January 24, 2009 - Las Vegas Sun
   
  • Health officials paint grim picture under Gibbons' plan
    CARSON CITY – County hospitals could close, the state could receive $14 million in federal sanctions and rural Nevadans could be left without mental health treatment, according to a grim assessment of Gov. Jim Gibbons’ social services budget delivered Friday.

• Infection Reporting on the Rise in Valley
  The number of suspected infections reported by Southern Nevada health care providers has increased significantly in recent months, probably because they are more vigilant after last year’s hepatitis C crisis, the state’s medical epidemiologist says.

• Friday, January 23, 2009 - KRNV TV (Reno)
   

  • How Much Will Nevada Receive From Stimulus Package?  Victoria Campbell, News 4

  As the House of Representatives debates an economic stimulus plan to help financially-strapped states, Gov. Jim Gibbons sent a letter to state lawmakers estimating that the state could receive up to $1.3 billion dollars in federal money. But state Budget Director Andrew Clinger says it's too soon to know how much Nevada might receive.

• Monday, January 19, 2009 - Las Vegas Sun

• Six Questions: Carl Heard, Chief Medical Officer of Nevada Health Centers
  As chief medical officer of Nevada Health Centers, the state’s largest network of clinics for low-income patients, Carl Heard is busy these days.  With Las Vegas’ unemployment rate at 7.9 percent, more than a point above the rest of the nation’s, an increasing number of people lack health insurance. Low-cost care is a vital alternative.