State pushes costs of tuberculosis treatment to counties

By Cy Ryan

Friday, May 6, 2011 | 1:41 p.m.

CARSON CITY – The budget committees of the Assembly and Senate have decided to end the state's annual $611,000 grant to counties for the detection and treatment of tuberculosis.

For Clark County, it will mean an annual loss of $408,000.

“If the state can’t afford it, they give it to the counties,” complained Bob Hadfield, a lobbyist for the Nevada Association of Counties.

Mike Willden, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said there was “a lot of tension and frustration” on the parts of the counties. He said counties had expected reimbursement for these services.

The Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee also voted to end the state’s $14,000 allocation to counties to treat sexually transmitted diseases.

These are just two of the programs in the trimmed-down budget of Gov. Brian Sandoval to shift programs to counties or eliminate state subsidies.

Sen. Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, questioned whether counties would have the ability to take over tuberculosis treatment. Willden said Clark and Washoe counties, and Carson City have local health districts to handle the programs, while nurses in rural Nevada would take on the task.

Hadfield added that programs pushed off on counties in the 2010 special session of the Legislature appear to be permanently funded by counties.