Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Sun editorial:

A success story

Nevada legislators should do what it takes to save vital consumer health office

Common sense dictates that if a state program must be cut to save money, the best choice would be something that isn’t serving the public well. Don’t eliminate a program that has been a success.

Then again, we’re talking about Gov. Jim Gibbons. Displaying an uncanny ability to ruin a good thing, the governor, in a quest to save more than $400,000 a year, has proposed closing the state Consumer Health Assistance Office. All the office has done is save Nevadans $30 million in health care expenses since 2000.

Someone ought to contact the governor and tell him to check his math.

The matter came up Monday at separate hearings before the Assembly Ways and Means and Health and Human Services committees. The Associated Press reported that Assemblyman Joe Hogan, D-Las Vegas, said: “I just think we’re cutting in the wrong place and we’re eliminating an extraordinarily effective agency that solves a very widespread problem for people trying to get relief in health care areas.”

Since it was created from legislation sponsored by Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, the office has seen its caseload rapidly increase. Last year it received 8,000 calls and opened 4,000 cases, representing a 20 percent increase over the previous year.

Through the years the office has provided information to consumers on ways to obtain free or low-cost prescription drugs, and has helped to mediate disputes over hospital bills.

Given the poor state of Nevada’s economy, with its record high numbers of home foreclosures and an unemployment rate rapidly approaching 10 percent, the need for an office to deal with consumer health issues could not be greater. Last month alone the office received nearly 1,000 calls.

So we ask, what could the governor be thinking?

Nevadans who are unable to pay their medical bills in a timely fashion or who fail to obtain necessary drugs because no one is available to help them will experience further misery. If that happens, we’ll know whom to blame.

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