Columbia HCA halts insurance coverage legislation

Tuesday, June 3, 1997 | 11:32 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A controversial bill to overhaul the system of medical care for the indigent and provide insurance coverage for the working poor has been pulled by Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., which is under federal investigation for illegal hospital practices.

Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, told a news conference Monday he asked the company to withdraw Assembly Bill 410 and it agreed.

"We don't want to kill UMC," Dini said, referring to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, which said it would lose $26 million in revenue if the bill was passed.

In addition, union workers at University Medical Center opposed the bill, fearing it would result in a loss of jobs.

Dini said Columbia HCA, which runs Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, didn't have the votes to pass the bill, but the measure was a "cloud" over other legislation.

He said he will ask some lawmakers who are experts in the field such as Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, and Assemblywomen Jan Evans, D-Sparks, and Vivian Freeman, D-Reno, to see if they can work out a plan before the end of the session to provide insurance for the working poor.

He said others in the industry will be consulted, but Columbia HCA won't be part of the discussion. He said the group, however, "may pick the brain" of HCA lobbyist Scott Craigie, a former director of the state Human Resources Department, who drew up the plan.

Dini conceded, "Maybe it's too late," with the legislative session expected to end in early to mid-July.

More than 280,000 people in Nevada don't have insurance coverage. Studies and proposals in the past have failed to provide coverage.

Besides University Medical Center, Dini said, the proposal would hurt other hospitals in the state that care for poor people who are uninsured.

The bill would have brought most of those on Medicaid under a system of managed care. And it would have provided insurance coverage for more than 100,000 people.

The withdrawal represents a victory for University Medical Center, which is the publicly subsidized county hospital, and the Service Employees International Union. UMC argued that the bill, if passed, would drain away its insured patients, costing the hospital $26 million.