Sierra Health fires some members of OB/GYN panel

Jeffrey Libby

Friday, Sept. 27, 2002 | 11:17 a.m.

Sierra Health Services, the largest managed care provider in Southern Nevada, terminated at least three members of the Clark County Obstetricians and Gynecologists Society, the group's president said Thursday.

Dr. John Nowins, president of the Clark County OB/GYN Society, said Scott Passano, vice president of Sierra Health, informed him earlier this week that he was terminated without cause. Passano gave Nowins notice during a routine call by Nowins to check on his policy, he said.

"To me it all seems to revolve around Medicaid, like they're saying, 'Don't rock the boat.' " Nowins said. "I've been working with them for 10 years and then I call up to check on my policy and they say, 'This is America. You've been terminated without cause.'th "

The main request made by the Clark County OB/GYN Society when it met last week with Guinn was to dismantle managed care Medicaid, a program worth millions to Sierra, and instead pay obstetricians directly.

The termination means Nowins and at least three other society members can no longer provide care for any patients covered by the insurance company, which is a sister company to the largest managed care provider in the state, Health Plan of Nevada, Nowins said.

"It's going over very badly in the medical community," Nowins said. "I've had hundreds of calls from doctors saying you can't take out the leadership of the OB/GYN society. It's an attack on the OB/GYN community."

Doctors Jerry Jones and Robert Gatlin, both society officers, were terminated without cause, Nowins said.

Dr. Robert Comeau, communications officer for the society, received a letter from Tony Marlon, chairman of Sierra, requesting him to "terminate your relationship" with Sierra Health. Marlon copied the letter to Gov. Kenny Guinn and state Sen. Majority Leader, Bill Raggio, R-Reno.

Health Plan of Nevada and its satellite companies control close to 50 percent of the health insurance market, Nowins said. The termination could hurt his ability to delivery babies in the state, he said.

Passano was not immediately available for comment. A spokeswoman also did not return calls this morning. The Clark County OB/GYN Society says about 40 percent of practicing obstetricians have stopped delivering babies since December to avoid renewing insurance premiums that have jumped 200 to 400 percent.

To prevent more obstetricians from leaving or giving up delivering babies, the OB/GYN society asked Gov. Guinn last week to consider reimbursing doctors who serve Medicaid patients on a fee-for-service basis as in the rest of the state, rather than reimbursing them through Sierra Health.

Doctors say that Sierra Health takes as much as $500 from the state's average payment of $1,937 for the care and delivery of a baby. They say by eliminating Sierra from the picture, doctors could recoup enough money to stay in business and the state would not need to subsidize premiums, as has been suggested by some lawmakers.

Sierra Health, however, says it actually saves the state thousands of dollars annually through its managed care system.