Health insurance fund may be restructured to help small business

Kirsten Searer

Monday, May 10, 2004 | 9:43 a.m.

A subcommittee looking at health insurance for small businesses heard a proposal Friday that could insure 10,000 people in five years.

But some county hospitals have concerns about the program, which would tap into county funds now used to help pay for uninsured people who make emergency visits to the hospital.

The University Medical Center and Washoe Medical Center would be most affected by a "restructuring" of those funds, said Peter Burns, a consultant hired by the state to look into a new health insurance program.

Burns told legislators on Friday that the state could secure $45 million by fiscal year 2005 and up to $52 million by fiscal year 2009.

The money would come from a variety of sources, including tens of millions of untapped federal funds.

Representatives from both hospitals have met with the consulting group, and Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid, who sits on the subcommittee, said Friday he thinks a balance could be carved out so that hospitals won't suffer under the new program.

The program would offer insurance to three groups of people.

Pregnant women who earn up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level would receive benefits.

Two groups of people with incomes of up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level also could participate: Employees of small businesses that don't offer insurance and employees who can't afford premiums even though their companies offer insurance.

Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, who is chairwoman of the committee, said she doesn't want to use new state funds or increase taxes to run the program.

Instead, by creating a new formula on how some county funds are spent, the state can qualify to receive new federal funds, she said.

"It's so incredibly hard because we're not going to make any suggestions of raising taxes," Buckley said. "What we're saying is, let's restructure what we're spending to get more bang for our buck. If we restructure, we can more than double the number of people we're helping. But it's hard."

While counties would lose some money immediately, they would save money in the long run because they would have to provide emergency care for fewer uninsured people, she said.

"Instead of paying for health care at the back end, we're trying to pay for it at the front end," she said.

Nevada has the country's sixth-lowest rate of uninsured working people, according to a study done by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Buckley said she feared the situation is getting worse.

Many new jobs now being created in Nevada are in small businesses that can't afford to offer insurance, according to several studies.

Buckley and other legislators will hold a press conference this morning to discuss the state's insurance woes as part of a national week to spotlight the uninsured.