Editorial: Follow up on patient well-being

Friday, June 14, 2002 | 5:26 a.m.

Administrators of the Medicaid program in Nevada have been quietly transferring to Utah or Idaho many patients who have Alzheimer's disease or other conditions that cause behavioral disorders. The practice came as quite a surprise to the Legislative Committee on Health when it heard testimony June 4 from family members. The committee's chairman, Sen. Ray Rawson, immediately criticized the practice because it separates families. But the testimony became even more grave. The head of the Southern Nevada Alzheimer's Association told of complaints to her organization about the quality of care the Nevada residents were receiving in Utah. One woman testified that her father had died in a Utah facility after being given overdoses of drugs.

Rawson used the word "astounded" to describe his reaction upon hearing that 75 Nevadans in the Medicaid program have been transferred to either Utah or Idaho. When he asked what steps are being taken to ensure quality of care at these out-of-state facilities, he was told by a state Medicaid administrator that there were none, that the other states are trusted to police the facilities.

We, too, must use the word astounded, especially regarding this last point. If Nevada nursing homes are unable, as they argue, to care for people with advanced Alzheimer's and other severely mentally disabling disorders, then at the very least state Medicaid administrators must follow up on everyone who is transferred. These are Nevada residents and, once they are admitted into a program administered by Nevada, the state has a responsibility to ensure the quality of their care.

Rawson said his committee members would visit some of the facilities in Utah. But the solution must go deeper than that. First, the health committee should never again be surprised by such news. There should be a requirement that the Legislature be notified about policies of such magnitude. Additionally, there must be a formal policy requiring Nevada inspectors to personally check on patients transferred out of state. Anything short of that is tantamount to abandoning our own citizens.