Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Terminated physicians ask governor for help

The president of the Clark County OB/GYN Society, who was terminated from his Sierra Health Services contracts after a meeting with Gov. Kenny Guinn, wants the governor to have him reinstated.

Dr. John Nowins and other members of the society's executive committee were called to a Sept. 18 meeting in Las Vegas by Guinn to discuss their concerns about the way pregnant Medicaid patients are handled by for-profit health maintenance organizations.

The doctors want the HMOs -- which are run by Sierra and Nevada Care Inc. -- to be eliminated because they believe they can treat pregnant Medicaid patients more efficiently on a fee-for-service basis.

But Nowins said that he and two other society executives received termination notices from Sierra on Sept. 25, a week after meeting with Guinn. Nowins believes the terminations were the result of the meeting.

"The governor should get us reinstated," Nowins said. "We shouldn't have lost our contracts and our patients just because we participated in a meeting. If the governor called (Sierra Chairman) Dr. Tony Marlon, it's a done deal.

"Getting terminated is not an enjoyable experience, especially if you felt what you were doing was moral and justified."

Guinn said Wednesday that he would be "angered" if he learned that Sierra had terminated doctors because they met with him, particularly since he called the meeting. He said that if the doctors could prove to him that they were terminated for meeting with him, he would discuss that matter with Sierra.

"If that's true, that would concern me but I don't know the facts on that," Guinn said.

But he said that if Sierra is terminating doctors for reasons other than his meeting -- including public complaints about managed care prior to Sept. 18 -- it is likely he would take no action because of the contractual arrangements the insurer has with doctors. Those contracts allow Sierra or the doctors to terminate their agreements with each other for any reason provided 90 days written notice is given to the other party.

"I don't have time to get into everybody's disagreements," Guinn said.

Sierra Assistant Vice President Jenny DesVaux Oakes denied that her company targeted doctors simply because they met with Guinn. But she said doctors who received termination notices included those who have complained publicly about managed care in general.

"Our desire to contract with providers or not to contract with them is based on the best interests of our customers," DesVaux Oakes said. "We have read misleading statements that we provide poor-quality care and we don't think that that is fair to our customers."

Nowins said he stands to lose 6,000 of his 30,000 patients after Sierra's termination goes into effect in December. Fellow Dr. Robert Comeau, the society's communications officer, also received a termination notice and said he will lose 10 to 20 percent of his patients.

"I would like to be reinstated, but I don't think the governor can do anything about it," Comeau said. "It's something beyond his control. He can go to Tony Marlon and talk to him to take me back but I don't think the governor has the power to make him do that.

"I feel terrible about it. How would you feel if you lost your job?"

Dr. Paul Chao, an executive committee member of the society, was the other doctor who received a termination notice. Chao had already severed most of his ties with Sierra but said he was terminated from one remaining plan. He said he has not yet decided whether he would seek reinstatement.

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