No plans to evict vets who can’t pay higher rate

Monday, April 12, 2004 | 10:46 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- State legislators said last week they don't want any patients evicted from the state Veterans Home in Boulder City because they could not pay the increased rates.

Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the Legislative Interim Finance Committee, told the director of the Veterans Home last Thursday that even if there are shortfalls in revenue, "I don't want you to put anybody out."

His comments were echoed by Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, during a presentation by home officials on the recent action to double rates, the first legislative hearing on the new rates.

Gary Bermeosolo, director of the home that opened last year, said there are no plans to evict anybody who is unable to pay the new rate. "We will not ask anybody to leave if they can't pay the bill," he told the committee.

Arberry said if there is a deficit, "We will have to rake and scrape for more money" to keep the veterans in the home. "I know you have to raise the rates. But we want the best quality care they can get," he told Bermeosolo and state Veterans Affairs Director Chuck Fulkerson.

The rates were raised from $1,500 a month to $3,000 because of a pending deficit.

Fulkerson said it costs $242 a day, or more than $7,000 a month, to care for a patient. Medicaid and Medicare pick up the cost for those eligible. For those who have resources, the rate has been $50 a day, supplemented by $57 from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

That means the state is paying about $135 per day, or $4,000 a month, for patients who are not on Medicare and Medicaid.

Bermeosolo said relatives of the veterans in the home were "not happy. I've taken a little heat." But he said they knew the increase had to be made.

The home initially estimated there would be more Medicaid and Medicare patients where the full tab is picked up. But 75 percent of the patients are not Medicaid and Medicare patients and that is causing the shortfall, Bermeosolo said.

Since the announcement of the rate increase, only two patients have left and there is a waiting list of 105 veterans. Even with the increase, Fulkerson said, the charges at the home are 36 percent cheaper than other nursing homes in Las Vegas.

Bermeosolo also told the committee he was having trouble attracting qualified nurses.