Monday, June 12, 2000 | 12:23 p.m.
Bedridden in a Clark County nursing home, a middle-aged woman has run up a $873,878 bill.
Listed as an "indigent patient" on the county Social Service Department's rolls, she is among the 5,177 patients whose medical bills, about $20 million so far this year, are paid for by the Medical Assistance to Indigent People Fund.
"Because of the building boom we have had, this fund has increased substantially in the last few years," said Bertha Warrick, assistant director of the Social Service Department, which handles the money.
The fund, which receives 6 to 10 cents of every $100 in property tax, grew by $13.7 million for the coming year. The Clark County Commission decided last week to pump $33.7 million into the fund, 10 percent more than it had expected for the fiscal year ending June 30.
The extra money is a result of higher than expected property tax revenues in Clark County. In 1999 the county received $877.7 million in property taxes. That was 17.6 percent higher than in 1998, due primarily to major construction projects like the Bellagio and Venetian hotel-casinos. At the same time, property values across the board increased, according to the County Assessor's office.
"The increase is incredible," Assessor Mark Schofield said. "We are the fastest-growing assessment jurisdiction in the country, and, frankly, I don't see an end in sight."
The rate of new home construction the Las Vegas area is higher than anywhere else in the country. Even with a 4 percent drop from 1998, the number of new home permits remained at 19,905, according to the Home Builders Research Inc., which tracks housing construction and sales activity.
All of those new homes in Las Vegas are feeding the medical assistance fund, which pays for hospital bills up to $25,000 for uninsured people. Any amount above that is covered by a similar state fund, which received $3 million from Clark County alone this year.
The average hospital bill paid by the county's medical fund is $22,291, but some people run up bills far beyond the $25,000 limit.
This year the largest single hospital bill was incurred by the woman in the nursing home, whose tab is still open and being paid by the local and state fund. The Social Service Department cannot reveal any information about the uninsured woman due to privacy concerns.
People with no insurance are the primary beneficiaries of the fund. Almost 400,000 Nevada residents, about 21.2 percent of the population, lack health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents with 24.5 percent, followed by Arizona (24.2), California (22.1), Nevada and New Mexico (21.1). The Medical Assistance to Indigent People Fund made up nearly half of the Clark County Social Service Department's $75 million budget, Warrick said.
In addition to the uninsured, the fund helps underinsured people pay a portion of their medical bills.
"We try to help as many people as we can," Social Services Director Verlia Davis said.
So far the department has spent about $20 million from the fund on outpatient clinic care, inpatient hospital care, emergency room service, long-term care, adult day care, medical transportation and pharmacy services for 5,177 people, Warrick said. Last year the fund paid out $27.5 million while helping 5,333 people with their bills.
"Our money is being successfully used to help the indigent or people in medical need," Warrick said.
The bulk of the fund's payments are funneled to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, which receives a disproportionate share of low-income patients.
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