Author
Rosen, Cortez Masto ask HHS to improve tribal access to mental health services
Nevada U.S. Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto called on Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra to improve tribal access to federal mental health services via a letter sent on March 14. The Indian Health Service is “the agency tasked with providing direct public health support to members of Tribal […]
Nevada gets federal approval to test out Medicaid funds for housing
Nevada Medicaid recently received federal approval to use funds to cover housing and supportive services through Medicaid’s managed care providers. The pilot program will help an estimated 20,300 Nevadans who had identified themselves as homeless when applying for Medicaid. As the state implements the program, it is also seeking approval from the federal government to […]
IRS launches its new free tax filing program
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service launched its new, free tax filing program in Nevada and 12 other states Tuesday. Nearly 20 million people qualify for the Direct File program including 480,000 Nevadans, according to the Treasury Department release. In Nevada and the dozen other states participating in the Direct File […]
Rosen helps secure increased funding for tribal housing programs
Nevada Democratic U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen announced Monday that $1.34 billion in funding for tribal housing programs is now available, including for the Indian Housing Block Grant program. The funding was included in the government spending package approved by Congress and signed into law last week. Native Americans in tribal areas have some of the […]
Clark County buys unused psych hospital to create behavioral health crisis stabilization center
Clark County purchased a 24-bed psychiatric hospital for $10.4 million this week. It plans to turn the property into a crisis stabilization unit pilot program to open later this year, according to Clark County Deputy Manager Abigail Frierson. Crisis stabilization units are small facilities that offer short-term behavioral health care including psychiatric stabilization and substance […]
Federal designation allows Reno Sparks Tribal Health Center more access to specialists
The Reno Sparks Tribal Health Center announced its designation Thursday as a Tribal Federally Qualified Health Center, which allows it to pay higher reimbursement rates to specialists providing care. The designation is in collaboration with the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. “Tribal patients will have an easier time accessing care, and I hope […]
Report tackles state’s deep-rooted health care problems
Nevada’s first-ever statewide “health improvement plan” examines inadequacies that have long bedeviled the state, and makes several policy recommendations designed to improve the health of Nevadans. The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health released the plan in collaboration with the University of Nevada, Reno School of Public Health Tuesday. The Silver State Health Improvement […]
State scrambling to come up with forensic beds after deal with Las Vegas went south
The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) is turning to alternative measures to provide more forensic beds and services after a deal with the City of Las Vegas soured, leaving DPBH to pay a $500 fine for each day a person in need of mental health treatment is in jail instead of under […]
Consumer groups call on NV to keep rule that led to $20M in auto insurance refunds
The Nevada Department of Insurance returned $20 million to more than 160,000 drivers in the state whose premiums were increased during the pandemic because of a low or declining credit score. The average return was $127. But during a state insurance advisory group meeting this week, consumer groups warned that many Nevadans, even those with […]
Medicaid unwinding draws scrutiny from state lawmakers
Nevada legislators are expressing frustration over the state’s inability to track people who were wrongfully disenrolled from Medicaid last year. “People are transient, and they list an address but it’s not exactly where they live, and we as government officials will send out government notices saying ‘hey you need to fill out this form’ but […]
NV’s request for insurance public option passes first fed test; application deemed complete
On Monday, the United States Department of the Treasury and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a 30-day public comment period after determining that the waiver application needed to assess Nevada’s health insurance public option was complete. Legislation enacted in 2021 created a public health care option that the State of Nevada would administer […]
State report recommends confronting fentanyl with more treatment, recovery support
A new report recommends doubling the funds invested for the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Agency to a total of $24 million this biennium. That recommendation is one of 18 in the 2023 annual report of the statewide Substance Use Response Working Group (SURG) that the Attorney General’s […]