Assembly approves health bill

Kirsten Searer

Wednesday, May 11, 2005 | 9:49 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Assembly approved a bill Tuesday that will give more health insurance coverage to pregnant women, small-business employees and people who are medically needy but not covered by Medicare.

Assembly Bill 493 stipulates that the state must apply for a certain type of Medicaid waiver from the federal government.

Nevada could take county dollars that are already in use and match them with the federal dollars to get more money for health care, said Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas.

The state is eligible for the money but has not been taking advantage of it, Buckley said.

"Nevada stands to lose $91 million over the next five years if we don't do something about it," she said.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, pointed out that Nevada has the fourth highest rate of uninsured people in the nation.

According to a presentation Buckley gave last month to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, the waivers could help cover another 2,500 pregnant women who make up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level.

That actually saves money because the state and counties already pick up the tab for uninsured pregnant women, Buckley said. Plus, she said, the babies end up getting prenatal care, decreasing the number of low birth-weight babies.

Small businesses who agree to cover at least 50 percent of health costs could sign up their employees for the plan if the employees make less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

And another 2,500 to 3,000 medically needy people who make up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level would qualify for insurance under the plan, Buckley said.

Those patients would have serious diseases such as cancer or serious injuries but do not have insurance.

Some members of the Ways and Means Committee questioned whether they should start a program when the federal dollars are not necessarily guaranteed into the future.

But Buckley said the state should join about 10 other states in taking advantage of the waiver while it is around. Money from the program could more than double the amount of federal money going into the state's health care system.

The bill now goes to the Senate.