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Sunday, July 1, 2012 | 2 a.m.
Gov. Brian Sandoval
Related stories
- Health care ruling brings hope, uncertainty for everyday Nevadans
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- Obama health care law survives Supreme Court review
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- More Sun political news
Gov. Brian Sandoval threw cold water on the celebration of health care advocates for the poor last week by casting doubt on whether Nevada will expand its Medicaid program.
Sandoval cited the costs, which he said could eat into other budgets, like education.
But health care advocates said not expanding the system would save the state few dollars, compared with the money it would be giving up from the federal government. More importantly, they said, it would leave thousands of Nevadans without insurance.
So here’s the central question: Is expanding Medicaid a fiscally sound policy?
Before breaking down the numbers, here’s the background.
Under the Affordable Care Act, a central strategy for putting more people on health insurance was to force states to expand their Medicaid systems. Technically, the expansion was voluntary, but the federal government wielded a pretty mighty stick. If states didn’t expand their systems, their existing Medicaid money would be taken away — about $700 million for Nevada this year. That provision made the expansion voluntary in name only.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this approach unconstitutional. That sent the decision on whether to expand Medicaid back to the states.
Some states (led by Democratic governors) have said they’d accept the money and expand the program. Other states (led by Republicans) are hedging or expressing grave concerns about the expansion. Nevada falls in that latter category.
To be clear, no Nevada member of the Democratic leadership has come out explicitly for the expansion yet. Nor has Sandoval drawn a line in the sand.
Instead, both sides say they want more analysis.
“The governor does not intend to automatically accept the Medicaid expansion,” said spokeswoman Mary Sarah Kinner. She said the state, already under severe financial pressure because of the Affordable Care Act, must look at the costs and understand potential penalties.
No financial analysis has been done yet on what it would mean if Nevada opted not to expand.
But in 2010, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services did project how much the Affordable Care Act would cost Nevada: $574 million from 2014 to 2019. Most of that cost will be incurred regardless of whether Medicaid is expanded.
In 30,000-foot view terms, the Medicaid expansion would:
• Offer Medicaid coverage to about 100,000 additional Nevadans a month at its peak, in 2016.
• Cost the federal government about $1.18 billion in Nevada between 2014 and 2019.
• Cost the state about $63 million in matching funds and $133 million from the general fund for administrative costs.
But the Affordable Care Act would require much of that administrative cost regardless of the Medicaid expansion, according to health care advocates.
“We have to carefully analyze the situation for Nevada,” said Jon Sasser, an advocate for health care in Nevada. “I think when they do, we’ll find it’s a very, very good deal for Nevada.”
Geoffrey Lawrence, deputy policy director with the libertarian think tank Nevada Policy Research Institute, said the governor should not expand the program.
“Every dollar we spend on the Affordable Care Act is a dollar that can’t be spent anywhere else,” he said. “After several years of negative revenue growth, it’s pretty tough to say we should expand an entitlement program.”
The federal government would pay 100 percent of the medical costs for those newly eligible for Medicaid in the first three years. By 2020, however, federal funding would drop to 90 percent. It’s uncertain where the federal and state cost-sharing would go from there, Lawrence said.
“You have to ask whether the state can afford the burden in the long-term without knowing what that burden will be,” Lawrence said.
Making Medicaid more generous may not be up to the governor.
Kinner said it’s a budgetary decision. Expansion “requires legislation.”
That means the debate will continue through 2013.
The Governor should not expand the Medicaid program. The costs will skyrocket within the next few years. Three years goes by quickly and the State will have this horrible liability to provide Medicaid to thousands of individuals. It is a bad idea since money will be diverted from education and transportation requirements. Medicare is widely abused and no need for Nevada to follow the idiots in California.
The Sun says "The federal government would pay 100 percent of the medical costs for those newly eligible for Medicaid in the first three years. By 2020, however, federal funding would drop ....."
So after 2019 then Nevada which has no more money would have to pay for Obama's folly
Let the Federal government pay for its own mistakes. And Obamacare is a mistake.
------
Ever hear Obama say no new taxes on the middle class - not a single dime.
Obama calls this New entitlement a Victory for Democrats - he got another $675 billion of middle class taxes to spend.
Wow talk about punishing us the Obama Supreme Court in a narrow 5-4 split decision said that Obama - after Obama said there would be no new taxes - has decide that Obama could tax us to pay for his Obamacare. A $1.6 trillion tax increase.
So now we a temporary stuck with an imposed huge tax increase, a larger IRS running our healthcare, higher premiums based on the higher standards, , and who knows what else
If you are a working stiff you will now have to file a new schedule with your 1040 to PROVE that you have health insurance for the entire year. - if not the IRS can bill you at 8% interest or take it out of you refund. Thousand of IRS agents will be determine if your insurance policy qualifies.
Nevada must confront decision of whether to spend the money watching the Chinese Navy or provide supportive health care to promote the general welfare.
Transplants aren't an option, but will Nevada recommend faith healing or modern science for general medicine? Will a person have to light the candles and fondle the beads or swipe their health care card and wait to be called?
The answer to these questions will be on Nevada's virtual website for development. Without economic recovery, the Real Estate Market will wallow at the bottom for another 20 years or more and making sandwiches doesn't pay for health care.
Let Teahead Nevada republicans sign a waiver and remove them from the Medicaid, Social Security, and other govt benefits.
But once they sign out, they don t get to come back no matter what.
Vola! Problem solved!
Thanks David for getting it right.
You wrote, "The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this approach unconstitutional."
Earlier in the week, one of your colleagues wrote that ObamaCare went unscathed and everything was ruled constitutional which clearly was a false statement.
You have corrected the Sun's false statement. Perhaps it is not a purely kool-aid progranda paper.
There is another falsehood that your colleague wrote. The writer stated that even if the Republicans won 51 seats that they can't undo ObamaCare because of the filibuster. This is false. Via the budget reconiciliation resolution, they can undo the Mandate Tax and other core Obamacare provisions and all that takes is 51 votes and filibuster can't be used against it.
Nevada has a choice during these bad things.
They can either take $100 milllion plus per year out of k-12, higher ed and public safety to fund Obama's Medicaid or they can tell Obama to take a hike.
"Let Teahead Nevada republicans sign a waiver and remove them from the Medicaid, Social Security, and other govt benefits.
But once they sign out, they don t get to come back no matter what.
Vola! Problem solved!"
Let koolaid Nevada Democrats who are against new US oil sign a waiver and remove them from purchasing any good and service that has oil in it, transported by machines that oil in them or made by machines that have oil in them.
They will basically have to move to woods, go naked and eat berries from trees.
Chop, chop......go at it!!!!!!!!
As one can see the logic of 1st statement is silly along with the 2nd statement.
outsource medical care to China
sgtrock...
Tell us again how YOU begged and pleaded away your OWN MEDICAL BILLS, because YOU didn't have health care coverage, and how THAT should be the MODEL for health care coverage for the poor & uninsured/under-insured Americans...
I believe you suggested that folks who can't pay their medical bills should do what YOU DID, and beg to have others pay them for you; like churches and charities.
Tell us how that would work for the millions of Americans who need health care coverage, some of which are sick & dying RIGHT THIS MINUTE, but cannot afford proper care...
That MAY have been when you were using jfnance32 as your screen name...not sure on that.
SunJon says "Nevada must confront decision of whether to spend the money watching the Chinese Navy or provide supportive health care to promote the general welfare."
Wrong it is not Nevada's problem to bail out Obama's folly and solve Obama's problem with China .
This is Obama's problem let Obama deal with it. Or elect Romney and get real health care reform that works
There's a simple solution to this problem.
All throughout recent history, Tea/Republicans focus only on money aspects of any issue. When the matter deals with the lives, health and welfare of people...compared to money...money always trumps the lives of people. Tea/Republicans HATE what they call "entitlements."
Now here comes something that puts them in a quandary. They scream Constitutionality all the time. But now the Affordable Care Act is now deemed Constitutional, affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court, the law of the land, but now Tea/Republicans are STILL against it and making up hokey excuses. Because they hate entitlements. They hate taking care of people. They hate spending money that they feel they should spend only on their purposes. Money is the ONLY thing to them. The lives of people here in Nevada. Eh. No big thing. They're expendable.
Governor Sandoval is no different. He will pay lip service and say, oh, yes, sure, we need to do something. But in the end, he'll opt out and do nothing. Because he's hoping that if he does nothing, the Federal Government will come in and run the program. Then he will sit back and criticize every little thing they do. Which is stupid. Because that would have been avoided if he actually showed leadership and jumped onboard to manage it from the start for Nevada. He's more interested in pointing fingers and finding a scapegoat. In other words, he could care less about Nevada, its people and if this program is run right.
People in Nevada need to wake up. Sandoval is not a moderate Tea/Republican. He's just the same as a Tea/Republican Governor from the Deep South.
In short, he will kill off Nevadans through indifference, neglect and uncaringness. He's more interested in money than the health and welfare of the citizens that live here.
Having said all that, the solution is easy.
We need to get out from under this Tea/Republican Party warped view of the world that, as each day goes by, gets more and more selfish and greedy.
Scorched earth policy. Get rid of all Tea/Republicans out of office.
Hate to say it, but that's the only way Nevada can properly implement and effectively put in place the Affordable Care Act. The sooner we get rid of the bums, the faster we put Nevada on a road not only to help people, but also for cost savings further down the line.
Not really an issue, America is broke and not paying its bills now, so the future will be a collapse of the empire.
GOP'ers and Tea Partiers don't want to expand Medicare cos of the cost, but it a whole new round of tax cuts for the billionaires came down the line, they'd be all for that, cos it fits into their preferred political scene. As for health care, how can Governors like Sandoval seriously take steps to deny health care to their citizens now that it's been ruled constitutional by the court? Remeber that, Nevadans without health care. Remember when you go to the polls that the GOP is playing games with your health care options, all in the name of political expediency.
Memo to David Schwartz:
Using the NPRI as a source is extremely lazy reporting. What percentage of Americans do you really think this rabid group represents.
Here is what the NPRI website says about itself:
"Judy Cresanta, NPRI Founder
Judy Cresanta founded the Nevada Policy Research Institute in the early 1990s following a life-changing trip to the former Soviet Union to educate pro-democracy leaders about free markets and free elections. Her inspirations included Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation; Jeff Coors of Coors Brewing and the Castle Rock Foundation; Bill Bennett, former secretary of education under President Reagan; and Morton Blackwell of the Council for National Policy. Ms. Cresanta served as the Institute's president until 2001.
NPRI was established as Nevada's first free-market think tank, with the goal of confronting the state's many eroding institutions, including government, the education establishment, the media and academia, with straight-forward, well researched information that would keep the public armed with the truth. The absense of truth, Ms. Cresanta learned while in the former Soviet Union, allows the state to enslave its citizens. Under Ms. Cresanta's leadership, NPRI worked with some of the top individuals and organizations from around Nevada and the nation to perform compelling research and provide it to the Silver State's citizens and policymakers."
To remind you of Paul Weyrich's street cred, here is his thoughts on enabling citizens to vote: Here's what Paul Weyrich told a meeting of the religious right in Dallas in 1980 about the power of suppressing voter turnouts:
"Many of our Christians have what I call the Goo Goo Syndrome: Good Government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been, from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections goes up as the voting populace goes down."
Bill Bennett is a republican hack who has spent too much time in Vegas, and Blackwell has been a member since 1984 of the Council for National Policy, a group of politically active conservatives. Founders included Richard Viguerie, the Virginia direct-mail specialist, Paul Weyrich, Howard Phillips of the Constitution Party, and Phyllis Schlafly, a St. Louis activist who led the opposition to the proposed Equal Rights Amendment. Another founder was Tim LaHaye, author of the Left Behind novels. The council does not make its proceedings public. When he first ran for president, George W. Bush addressed the Council for National Policy. His remarks from 2000 have never been unveiled.
Plus we got to hear from representatives of the governor.
Not one democrat was sourced, not one progressive was sourced, not one liberal was sourced.
Lousy, lazy reporting IMHO.
If you are going to use the addle brained folks at NPRI you should also include moveon.org, or http://www.americanprogress.org/ or http://www.ips-dc.org/ or http://www.ourfuture.org/ If you don't like those, here is a liist you could find some balance with: http://www.fair.org/images/Thinktanks030...
I believe the majority of Republicans need to have their vision checked as they all seem to be shortsighted. They are all about today and screw tomorrow. Good managers know how to see into the future and how actions today affect the future.
Preventative care and catching illnesses early will save billions. Billions will be saved in supporting government subsidized hospitals (Clark County spent 64.8 million on UMC for uninsured medical costs of poor people). Employee sick time will be reduced saving billions in productivity. The list is endless but the true savings is difficult to quantify without moving forward.
Many point to polls showing the majority are against ACA. But when you ask them WHY are you against it...half state they would prefer Medicare for all. So in reality while the ACA is unpopular, the reasons vary greatly.
Search through old newspapers in 1965 when Medicare was created and you will find the exact same fear mongering from Republicans. They were wrong then and they are wrong now.
Finally some coverage. I'm not sure we have any specifics on whether you can later opt out if a State opts in for say 5 years. Why are the administrative costs so blessedly high? And we don't even have nurses or pa's as first contact to resolve numerous "medical" issues for those who don't know any better--dispense hygiene, common sense, determine when something is critical. If we're gonna pay for every person who wakes up and isn't feeling real good today, we're all headed for insolvency. The way to trim health care costs is NOT to pay more to insurance companies--the way is to seek treatment only when it is needed. It is such a shame that American adults who have worked and supported this country for decades are turned out to pasture in pain and without consideration--just so every confused teenager who can't figure out how to support herself (or himself) can get free everything from the government.
Nice to see Gov. Sandoval Crunching Numbers, however not a word is ever mentioned about Morally forcing 100k people to use the Hospital System (The Most Expensive Option to the State) or ethically margionalizing a population as undeserving of medical care because they are Poor.
In Gov. Sandovals Play to be a National Figure, we'll see how large of a Republican Hack he really is.
There IS a solution....in November,
VOTE OBAMA AND ALL DEMONRATS OUT!!!
NO NEW TAXES
Republicans are on the wrong side of this issue...USA is the ONLY major country without universal healthcare...Republicans will self destruct rather than work with the President...childish and a loser
Unlike most of the other Republican "parrots" (Governors), I expect Gov. Sandoval will make a decision that's in Nevada's best interests. These are tough choices and though I've soured on many, many Republicans... our Governor sincerely has out best interests at heart.
How come 54 other developed countries in the world can afford universal health care, but the US,(the richest country in the world) can not?
Oh, that'a right, the rich people have all the money in the US and the other 99% have almost nothing.
If the 1% make the US the richest country in the world, those 3,000,000 people must have a total worth exceeding 50 trillion dollars!
Universal health care would only cost 0.01% of that 50 trillion dollars. Selfish, greedy, unethical people indeed.
@Bob,
those 54 countries don't spend $600 billion a year on defense.
those 54 countries don't bog themselves in endless wars.
those 54 countries are not under invasion from 3rd world illegals that the taxpayer is forced to take care of.
those 54 countries have reasonable tort reforms to keep lawyers from getting a 30% cut of every health care dollar spent.
should I continue?
NPRI's Geoffrey Lawrence and the other hatchet people there do not understand anything about economics. All they have is their narrow minded ideology that parallel the so-called republican party's line.
Sandoval, his government, a large segment of the corporate community, and the narrow minded so-called republicans in Nevada do not understand economics and do not want to understand.
Nevada stands to gain $1.18 billion in a 5 year period from the Federal government and Nevada only has to put up $196 million.
A 6th grade student would recognize that bargain would be economically beneficial to Nevada.
Offer that same deal to the Nevada casino's and they would not hesitate. They know a good deal!
Why is the USA the richest country? The USA is broke and borrowing money to pay debt, does that sound rich? Printing money to pay bills, not rich, broke is more like it. Many of those other countries are broke to, are you people living in a fantasy? USA the richest what a maroon, other countries have a surplus and not a debt, I would say wake up, but it is already to late, enjoy your fantasy and some health care, the USA is done.
The libs have not stated if they want K-5 budget to be cut or if they want higher ed to be cut to fund the state's share of ObamaCare Medicaid.
Please tell us which one it will be.
The Federal share is already paid for. It will be charged to your children's credit card.
Beesaffer, are you a middle school drop-out? Your post at 1:06 does not make any sense.
Try this:
'Mitt Romney's bogus attack on the affordable care act'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra......
'The republican turn against health care insurance'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra......
Who is going to pay for this? That is the simple question that has to be addressed. Gov Sandoval has already said that he will have to continue furloughs for state employees if ACA is implemented in full. So, if it goes into effect, state employees will bear the brunt of the cost with furlough and pay cuts. Bull freaking number two on that one from me and every other state employee.
Man our country is screwed. As conservative as I am, I can still find parts of the ACA that are beneficial for us. I like to believe that while I lean greatly to the right, I still have common sense when I get punched in the face by something that makes sense. It is easy to see why our country is in a political gut bomb just by reading posts on here. The far reaching idiots on both sides just can't lose anything or they fight and scratch like feral cats until they get their way. This is just like our politicians in Washington. I hope all can agree on one thing, our health care system has gone into the tank in the past 20 years. I am not an Obama fan by any stretch of the imagination, but at least he is trying. I don't agree with most of the ACA, but argue it out and find common ground. You get your way sometimes and in compromise the other side gets their way sometimes. There are smart, smart people out there who should be able to get a grip on this. Why can't we figure this out? Probably because those smart people are the ones getting rich while we bicker back and forth.
johmanrules, The traditional Republican party of Eisenhower, Rockefeller, Dirksen, Hatfield, Ford and others no longer exists. Those that wear the republican label now are Fascists that are totalitarian, corrupt and incompetent. These 'things' have adopted Hitler and Goebbels Big Lie propaganda--tell lies, even preposterous lies and repeat them over and over to convince, fool, and brainwash American citizens.
They have also adopted the policies of Hitler and Ribbenthrop (sic) by constantly saying no, no, no to their adversaries. All they do when they are out of power is obstruct, obstruct, and obstruct any and all legislation that would be beneficial to the American citizens. Since they have gained control of the House of Representatives, they have been using same as a bloody pulpit and to stop jobs bills, stimulus bills, and unemployment extensions for the long term unemployed.
Recently, Heller, Heck, and Amodei voted for cuts in the food stamp program. Nevada has an almost 12% unemployment and for some people, food stamps are all they have to live on.
For two decades, the so-called republicans supported the individual health-care mandate, but they have turned against same.
The so-called republican strategy is to make the economy so bad by sabotaging any efforts to improve the economy. They think, by inflicting pain on the American citizens-they will use the Big Lie and blame President Obama and the Democrats for the almost financial market collapse and the resulting Great Recession II.
They are not interested in good governance, they are only interested in power so they can once again lock arms with the Corporate Fascist of America and rip-off America again.
This time they will fail!
BeeSafeer, I liked your post at 2:16. For once you were right.
Time for a 10% state income tax and jack the sales tax to 10%. C'mon Nevada, you can be just like California with a little effort.
Then you could afford to give those clark county FF's a much needed raise, we all know how tough it is to live on a measly $175k per year....don't we??
What about the millions of mostly young people who can afford insurance but refuse to buy it, right? You know, the lazys (Republican word for em) who drive cars, go skiing, or just plain get up everyday and live life. And if and when the accident happens, the ambulance will still show up, the E R. will still service them, the hospital will admit them, the pharmacy will dispense to them and the bill will be TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS that you and I have been footing until WE can't afford it anymore...yes Republicans, THOSE lazys! I'm tired of paying for them. And you, my Republican friends, are always the first to scream about personal responsibility!
Trayygore, What did you do in Seminole County Florida? Why don't you tell all the NV citizens about it?
NotsoSafe: You certainly of void of what happened in the 8 year miserable failure of covert president cheney and his puppet "duh" bush jr.
Have you forgotten they are responsible for the majority of the National Debt?
Have you forgotten that their narrow minded ideology of totally unregulated capitalism worked very well for their Greedy Corporate Fascist Cronies that wrecked the economy and will take decades to fully recover, not years.
Have you forgotten that the sadistic so-called republicans that control the House of Representative since 2011 have stopped all jobs bills, any further stimulus, and stopped unemployment extensions or the long term unemployed?
Have you forgotten these so-called republicans are intentionally sabotaging the economy to make the American people suffer so they can once again use the Big Lie to blame President Obama and the Democrats for what the despicable narrow minded republicans did themselves.
Yes, it was the so-called republicans that crashed the economy, and yes the despicable republicans are making things worse economically for the American people.
Go home tonight and tell your children that you are doing everything you can to make their lives worse in the future.
Also, tell them their children will not have a good life either.
Because of the Housing Fraud Bubble, it's Bursting, and the almost financial market collapse--the USA has lost over $34,000,000,000,000 of it's wealth that took 200 years to create and will take decades to recover.
(Sun Editorial)
Our GDP, total of goods and services, is approximately $14.5 Trillion yearly.
So, tell me how long will it take to make that $34 Trillion back at GDP growth rates of 2 to 10%.
Pose that question to your children and ask them how many decades will it take to have America fully recovered?
A President and one political party cannot do it in many decades.
Our economic problems would not be so great if the so-called republicans had cooperated in fixing the Great Recession we are in because of what they did.
Instead they are sabotaging the economy to inflict economic pain on the American citizens, hoping that the American citizens will blame President Obama and the Democrats.
This time the so-called republicans and their use of the Big Lie will not work.
Silly wabbits. It's a TAX not an ENTITLEMENT. We now have a National Health Tax; I want National Health Care. You can piss and moan but the thought of repaying and limiting Medicaid participation is laughable. Bob, you are a SURrealist. However, I do note a self exemption for yourself in your own post. How specious.
Bob, the costs to collect "repayment" of benefits would exceed the amount collected--just ask Division of Welfare what it costs to collect fraudulent payments. But I like the idea of public notice / lien on recipients so that the few who win a lottery actually pay something back.
howdy: So how about enabling and insisting law enforcement collect those ER bills from the young people who have accidents AND the illegals ripping us off at UMC? Any reason we can't have that legislation in addition to whatever the federal government decides to do?
How to pay for it? 1% tax on food, increase gaming and mining taxes 1%...2014 there might be savings from putting prisoners on medicare...plus savings from less UMC costs and St Mary's costs...
There are about a hundred people going to UMC etc. who cost the state millions...at least buy then catastrophic policies
Medicaid needs to be converted to a consumer-driven or patient-driven health plan without insurance premiums. The State of Nevada has saved millions by putting employees on a consumer-driven plan. This is where the consumers / patients get preventive care and major medical assistance but pay their own way, or serious co-pays, for running to an MD or RX for every sniffle. Costs come way down when you "have some skin in the game", where you pay a price for neglecting your health, for being careless, for not using common sense.
mred: those going to UMC with major problems are often illegal invaders--arrest and deport. Do NOT buy them insurance.
First of all this article only sites an opinion by a libertarian think tank. I wish reporters would offer both sides of an issue so that readers can get a balanced view. The truth is that Nevada would pay 0.14% of State spending as a percentage of 2011 G.D.P. (The cost estimates come from the indispensable Kaiser Family Foundation, and the state output estimates come from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.) http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0...
1. Medicaid expansions will significantly increase coverage and reduce the number of uninsured.
2. The federal government will pay a very high share of new Medicaid costs in all states.
3. Increases in state spending are small compared to increases in coverage and federal revenues and relative to what states would have spent if reform had not been enacted.
4. The RED states like Nevada will pay more because they have spent less in their programs. The federal matching rate for new eligibles is 100 percent.
I think that GOP Govs will be voted out if they do not take the 100% matching money. We need to vote in a Democratic Gov in Nevada so we can move forward and not let the GOP and their narrow 1950's view of government ruin us.
We should all refrain from criticizing this law and work together to fix the apparent issues it creates for our State. Thousands of Americans file for bankruptcy each Month due to high cost of medical care. No law is perfect but it can always be amended and improved. Parents should not have to face a decision between selling their home and providing the best chance for their child to get better. Many older Americans suffer complicated illnesses requiring multiple tests and physicians. If given the chance, many of us would sign a law suit against any medical clinic if it would be in our best financial interest even if the discomfort would be resolved with an ice pack and time. Undocumented workers do use the emergency rooms placing strain on many Hospitals but a $6,000.00 ER visit is hardly the reason our current health care system does not work. I don't like President Obama; I don't think we have money growing out of our ears but I'm tired when the only legitimate reason to complain is that YOU or YOUR political party didn't come up with the solution first. We should be ashamed for turning the spirit of America into some 1930's Hitler's propaganda and campaign of "It's not our fault! Blame the (fill in the blank)". Brian Sandoval is a good governor. It's not an easy job to run a State government when the solution is for all of us to pitch in and having nobody wanting to give up anything.
The Pew Center, the Kaiser Foundationa and the Urban institute have data that show that Nevada will save money.
"Transfer costs" e.g. the $15 aspirin, mean that everone else pays for the uninsured. The government and businesses will save money on healthcare premiums.
Employees of start-up and small businesses will be able to get health insurance.
If the state wants to stay competitive with "medical tourism" this expansion is needed as well.
Also medical costs for prisioners will be allowed under medicaid in 2014.
Pay them now or bailout UMC later.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0...
Also in No Nevada, the St Mary's hospital has been bought out by a company that some people do not like, one reason was uninsured patient costs.
In California the AG blocked Prime Healthcare from buying a hospital in Victorville (bankrupted as well)
http://www.rgj.com/article/20120620/NEWS...