- Nevada Coalition Seeks Unprecedented Insulin Refund Law (ktvn.com)Nevada lawmaker strips refund provision from insulin bill (ktvn.com)
Aiming to rein in soaring prescription drug prices, an unlikely Nevada coalition is trying to force pharmaceutical companies to disclose how they set insulin prices - and issue refunds to diabetics or their insurance companies if annual price hikes surpass inflation...Las Vegas casino owners have banded together with their employees' unions of cooks, servers and other resort workers to support the unprecedented legislation in their effort to control their own medical insurance costs...The bill expected to face its first vote in early May would attempt to cap how much employers, insurers and corporate middle men pay for insulin...Lawmakers also hope the bill would cap what diabetics pay out of their own pockets near their current cost levels - typically between $50 and $600 per month, depending on diabetics' insurance coverage...It remains far from clear that the bill, if passed, would survive legal challenges or have the intended effect. But it would make Nevada the first U.S. state to force detailed release of drugmakers' proprietary information and effectively establish a price control on prescription drugs via the refund plan...
- Nevada coalition wants drugmakers to reimburse diabetics (reviewjournal.com)
Nevadans dismayed by soaring drug prices told lawmakers...the state should take unprecedented action to curb costs...A coalition of hotel and casino owners, union leaders and Democratic lawmakers are attempting to mandate pharmaceutical companies refund people for overpriced American insulin...The bill targets diabetes medications...would require drugmakers to reimburse Nevada patients and insurers for what they pay above the highest price in other developed countries for the same prescriptions. Drugmakers would also have to reimburse people if American insulin prices increase more than inflation would suggest they should...Senate Bill 265 would require manufacturers to disclose the costs of all research, materials, manufacturing and administrative expenses that go into producing drugs for diabetics. Additionally, it would force them to notify government health agencies and insurance companies 90 days before they increase prices above the preceding year’s inflation rate...Nevada’s proposal would also have the state license all pharmaceutical sales representatives...Implementing that program in Nevada would cost about $350,000 and upkeep would cost $125,000 annually after that, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services...
- Botox bill draws fierce protest in Nevada Legislature (reviewjournal.com)
The Nevada Senate Health and Human Services Committee heard a bill Wednesday that aims to restrict which medical professionals can administer Botox...The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Joe Hardy...would bar dental hygienists, medical assistants and aestheticians from administering botulinum toxin...one of the biggest reasons for restricting who can administer the powerful toxin is the lack of training some have in spotting infections...The bill was fiercely opposed by dental hygienists...it was unfair to categorize dental hygienists with the other professions included in the bill, claiming they have extensive training in anatomy around the head and neck...No states allow dental hygienists to administer Botox...
- Draft bills aim to make small improvements in Nevada’s mental-health system (reviewjournal.com)
The mental health system in Nevada has long been a lightning rod for criticism, with the Silver State consistently ranking at or near the bottom of most national rankings...But state legislators and health officials say a trio of bills now being drafted would make some small improvements by streamlining licensing of mental health professionals, updating the state’s definition of “mental illness” and making it easier to share information on individuals who have been deemed mentally ill with law enforcement...(Assemblyman James Oscarson)...proposed transferring “responsibility for regulating certain mental health-related professions to the State Board of Health...Another bill...would allow the state criminal record repository to more easily share information with local law enforcement officers. The idea is to help them identify an individual who has been “adjudicated as mentally ill or has been committed to any mental health facility” and is therefore barred from possessing firearms...A third proposal...aims to update the definition of “mental illness” in Nevada statutes...The bill would bring the state into line with the definitions in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders….
- Key lawmakers reject bulk of Sandoval’s proposed mental health cuts (rgj.com)
Key lawmakers building the state's next budget rejected more than half of the cuts Gov. Brian Sandoval proposed to mental health services in Northern Nevada...The sub-committee in charge of reviewing and altering Sandoval's mental health budget restored nearly $5.5 million when it "closed" the budget for Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services...Sandoval had proposed cutting $10.1 million from the mental health agency, arguing that demand for state services are dropping as more Nevadans obtain coverage through Medicaid that allows them to access private health care providers. Sandoval's budget includes increased funding for Medicaid...lawmakers weren't convinced that those with a mental illness are able to access adequate care in the private market, especially as Congress works to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which provides expanded Medicaid coverage...lawmakers refused to:
- Close the 10-bed rapid stabilization unit at the Dini-Townsend Psychiatric Hospital, restoring $3.7 million to the budget;
- Slash $1.2 million in funding to provide services to severely mentally ill patients who are "treatment resistant";
- Eliminate outpatient counseling services at NNAMHS, restoring $367,217 to the budget;
- Bill proposes Nevada small businesses offer paid sick leave (reviewjournal.com)
Businesses with 50 or more employees would have to provide paid sick leave under a bill heard...by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Labor and Energy...Under Senate Bill 196 sponsored by Democratic Majority Leader Aaron Ford of Las Vegas, workers would earn one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked, and could access the benefit after being on the job 90 days...An employer could limit accrual to 48 hours per year, and cap usage at 24 hours per year. The time could also be used to care for a child, a relative or attend medical appointments...There are exceptions for temporary employees, construction workers, and employees covered under bargaining agreements. It also exempts religious organizations, nonprofits and private membership clubs from compliance...The bill was opposed by the Las Vegas Metro, Henderson and Reno-Sparks chambers of commerce, who complained the requirement would be onerous for small businesses and lead to increased costs and paperwork...Paul Moradkhan of the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce said many members already offer paid leave and they worry about the “cumulative effect” of bills being considered in the Legislature will have on their businesses.
- New website will help Nevadans understand perils of opioid medications (reviewjournal.com)
The state medical board has launched a new website designed to help Nevadans understand the impacts of using opioid-based medications...The knowyourpainmeds.com website created by the state Board of Medical Examiners will also serve as a portal for consumers to file a complaint if they feel their medical provider is not acting appropriately related to the prescribing of medications...We feel that the launch of this new informational tool clearly demonstrates the board’s commitment to creating awareness and our efforts to address this problem...Opioid abuse is expected to be a significant issue for the Nevada Legislature this session...
- Audit offers bevy of regulations for Nevada medical marijuana program (reviewjournal.com)
Tweaking the system...Nevada’s legislative audit division issued nine recommendations for the state’s medical marijuana program:
- Better verification of authenticity of physicians who recommend marijuana
- More monitoring of physicians who write those recommendations
- Ensure patients reason’s for growing at home are legitimate
- Eliminate the background check for medical marijuana card applicants
- Develop controls so dispensaries do not sell to patients with expired cards
- Better safeguard sensitive information
- Develop a cleaner and more organized record keeping system
- Speakers ask Nevada legislators not to reduce mental health funding (reviewjournal.com)
As lawmakers began a detailed review of the state mental health budgets on Friday, speakers asked them not to cut services to the mentally ill, but rather to reinvest the money where critical needs continue to exist...a Joint Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means subcommittee took a look at the funding proposals for mental health services, which are proposed to see some state general fund spending reductions in the coming two years...Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, state general fund support would decrease from $93 million in the current budget to $83 million in the new spending plan, with the loss of 38 staff...Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, the general fund budget reduction is from $32 million to $26 million with the loss of 56 positions...Officials with the Division of Public and Behavioral Health told lawmakers that funding for mental health programs is increasing, but services being provided from the state general fund are being shifted to the Medicaid program with an expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid costs are shared by the state and federal governments...Private sector psychiatric hospitals are also being built to provide treatment to the mentally ill because many are now Medicaid eligible and do not have to be treated in state-funded hospitals...
- Nevada’s medical community on board with governor’s health-care priorities (reviewjournal.com)
Nevada’s medical community is largely in agreement with Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budgetary priorities to improve health care in the state over the next two years...Now comes the hard part: Finding funds to adequately address those issues during the legislative session...without creating new gaps in the state’s strained health care system...Sandoval and medical organizations have reached a general consensus on three main issues:
- ...the state’s continuing opioid abuse problem…Sandoval said he’ll introduce the Controlled Substance Abuse Prevention Act this year to provide “more training and reporting and heightened protocols for medical professionals” for prescribing pain-relieving but addictive opioids.
- ...funding for the UNLV School of Medicine…The proposed budget includes an additional $10 million in graduate medical education funding to increase medical residency and fellowship programs in the Silver State…
- ...an increase in Medicaid reimbursement to physicians...Sandoval’s proposed budget for the next biennium includes $8.6 million in increased reimbursement for specific groups of health care providers, including those in assisted living facilities, adult day cares and pediatric surgical services. When matched with federal dollars, that will amount to a spending increase of nearly $34 million...