University Medical Center suing Nevada over Medicaid rates

Wednesday, May 6, 1998 | 1:29 a.m.

But a hospital executive says the legal challenge isn't inconsistent with his concern about a state proposal that could send many of those same patients to other hospitals for treatment.

William Hale, chief executive officer of the hospital, said the challenge over the rate paid for Medicaid patients dates to 1994. After losing in an appeals process, the medical center filed its lawsuit in December in Clark County District Court.

Hale said that because of the unique services offered by the Clark County-supported hospital, including its trauma and burn units and its AIDS care, its costs for treating patients, including Medicaid patients, are higher than for other hospitals.

This can be seen in the 1997 report on hospital profits, he said. The operating expenses per admission at the medical center last year were $8,526, well above the average of the big six state hospitals at $6,499.

The amount being sought by the hospital in its lawsuit amounts to $6.1 million a year beginning in fiscal 1994. The figure includes both federal and state shares, said Chris Thompson of the state Health Care Financing and Policy Analysis Division, within the Department of Human Resources which manages the Medicaid program.