State gets $4 million grant for low-income seniors

Friday, Sept. 4, 2009 | 6:49 p.m.

CARSON CITY – A $4 million federal grant is going to the state Health Division with most of the money being used to provide health insurance for low-income senior citizens.

The division, through its Primary Care Office, will select an insurance company to cover an expected 400 senior citizens age 60-64 with an income level of $1,806 per month, or 200 percent of poverty for a single person.

Martha Framsted, public information officer for the division, said Nevada is aiming to collect $20 million over the next five years to continue the program. The success of getting the money will depend on how effective the state is in getting seniors signed up.

Of the total federal grant, $3.3 million will be used to buy insurance coverage for the uninsured seniors.

She noted that as these elderly residents reach 65 they qualify for Medicare. And that will open up slots for people to enroll.

The state will allocate $600,000 a year of the federal grant to the nonprofits Great Basin HealthNet in Las Vegas and the Access to Health Care Network in Northern Nevada. They will help find the seniors who are eligible and help them enroll.

Nevada is one of 13 states sharing in a $70.9 federal grant to expand health care coverage for the uninsured. The states must show they are able to sustain the program after the federal funds have stopped.

Gov. Jim Gibbons commended the division for getting the money for coverage of the uninsured elderly.

The Primary Care Office will receive $100,000 from the grant and there will be a statewide plan for sustainable health care. Great Basin HealthNet can be reached at 430-3580.