Home health care moratorium leaves state reeling

Art Nadler

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997 | 10:53 a.m.

President Clinton's moratorium on licensed home health care agencies has left state lawmakers scrambling for solutions to solve Nevada's booming elderly population.

The state's 37 nursing home facilities, with nearly 4,000 beds, are currently operating at 92 percent occupancy, Chris Thompson, administrator for the Division of Health Care Financing and Policy, told members of the Legislative Committee on Health Care Monday. He expects demand to easily surpass availability when baby boomers turn 65 in the year 2010.

Meanwhile, the state has been left to operate with 109 private home health care agencies. They provide residents, who would otherwise be in hospitals, care in their own homes.

Clinton placed a moratorium on new home health care agencies in January because some were being investigated for fraud.

According to Richard Panelli, chief of the Health Division Bureau of Licensure and Certification, four facilities have been shut down in Nevada. A fifth in Elko voluntarily surrendered its license.

"There are 20 to 30 patients a day at University Medical Center who can't be placed in long-term care," said William Hale, chief executive executive officer. "They are being kept at the hospital at a cost to taxpayers."

Because nursing home care and prescription drugs are not covered under Medicare, Thompson said more and more of elderly people will be forced to go on Medicaid. He said retired people who require long-term health care need to maintain quality of life, which would be best satisfied in a home health care setting.

"Our growth is so great that our agency can't handle the people needing health care," Panelli said.

Some elderly people in Las Vegas, who were turned away from full nursing homes in Las Vegas, are going to facilities in rural parts of the state that have beds, Panelli's office reported. There, without the support of family or friends, they are left alone to cope with their failing health conditions.

"We are going to have to look seriously at what the long-term needs are," said Larry Matheis, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Association, said. "We have to build into the next legislative session a plan for dealing with long-term health care."