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Elite Medical Center...Since it opened...its business model has been based on providing emergency care to tourists...The federally-run Medicare program for the elderly and the state-run Medicaid program for low-income residents just isn’t lucrative and therefore isn’t part of its business model...The rest of Nevada’s hospitals use their privately insured patients to subsidize the cost of treating those covered under Medicare and Medicaid. Hospitals argue that the rates paid by government insurance programs don’t come close to the actual costs of providing care, so they must carefully balance the number of patients they take under each type of insurance in order to stay financially solvent....the other hospitals believe that Elite is siphoning off the well-insured patients at their expense and without shouldering any of the burden for treating those on Medicare or Medicaid. That’s why the state hospital association is pushing for lawmakers to pass AB232, which would require essentially all Nevada hospitals to accept Medicare and Medicaid...READ MORE

After taking on the pharmaceutical industry two years ago with an insulin pricing transparency bill, Democratic state Sen. Yvanna Cancela plans to continue...A suite of three bills, which Cancela plans to introduce next week, will establish a prescription drug review board, create additional pharmaceutical pricing transparency requirements and mandate that savings in the drug pricing process are passed along to patients. Like the legislation last session, the bills will address the roles that both pharmaceutical manufacturers and the middlemen in the drug pricing process, called pharmacy benefit managers, play in determining drug costs...The pharmaceutical industry has challenged a host of recent state legislation, including bills in California and Maryland, attempting to rein in drug costs by arguing that they violate the Commerce Clause, which restricts the power of states to regulate interstate commerce...READ MORE

First lady Melania Trump is asking the public to look beyond the raw numbers and to see the opioid crisis as a "human story."...Mrs. Trump says that by thinking of the faces behind the statistics "we have the potential to not just reduce, but eliminate" the tens of thousands of deaths that are attributed to opioids annually. Federal statistics show that nearly 48,000 Americans died in 2017 after overdosing on the powerful painkillers...The first lady spoke Tuesday during a town hall-style conversation in Las Vegas on the opioid epidemic. She is using the event to close a two-day, three-state tour to promote her "Be Best" initiative, which includes a focus on babies born dependent on opioids...READ MORE

Just like any full-service emergency room, Elite Medical Center treats a range of urgent medical problems, from headaches to heart attacks. But unlike at the other ERs in Southern Nevada, you’ll generally pay more for your care...That’s because the facility doesn’t contract with any insurer. So if you break a bone or your child has an earache and you go there, you’ll be paying for out-of-network care...Elite is licensed as a hospital by the state, but experts say it is operating similarly to free-standing emergency rooms that have become common recently in other states. It is the only unaccredited hospital in Clark County that provides emergency care but doesn’t contract with insurers...There’s no license for a free-standing ER in Nevada, though hospitals are allowed to open satellite emergency rooms that provide care at other locations....State law doesn’t mandate that these facilities be accredited by the federal Centers for Medicare or Medicaid Services or accept any insurance, private or public...“We don’t think that’s appropriate,” said Bill Welch, president and CEO of the Nevada Hospital Association, which represents UMC and 65 other medical facilities statewide. “We think that Elite Medical Center, if they want to operate as a hospital in the state, that they should operate as a CMS-certified center and they should be accredited and Medicare-participating. Without those things, we’re concerned.”

Three vending machines in Las Vegas are now providing the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan for free...The newest vending machine, installed March 14 at the Center for Behavioral Health...offers the drug along with clean needles, personal hygiene and first-aid kits, safe sex information and pregnancy tests...“The vending machine provides easy access that does not require a medical appointment,”...Trac-B Exchange, part of the Harm Reduction Center in Las Vegas, offers infectious disease consulting to community members. Its existing needle exchange vending machines, which also dispense Narcan, are at the Huntridge Family Clinic, 1830 E Sahara Ave., and The Center, 401 S Maryland Parkway...READ MORE

UNLV’s School of Medicine will conduct a nationwide search to find a dean. The search will begin this July...The news of the opening position comes after current school of medicine dean, Dr. Barbara Atkinson, announced her departure from the school. She will continue as a dean until her replacement has been selected...“Serving as planning dean and staying on to formally launch the school’s academic and clinical operations has been an incredible experience,” said Atkinson in a press release. “Our students are performing remarkably well and we have achieved so much together.”..The School of Medicine welcomed its first class of students in July 2017. The 60 students, out of 900 applicants, were welcomed with full-ride, four-year, academic scholarships...READ MORE

For all the consternation about the lack of medical care in Las Vegas, local officials have had an odd reaction to the opening of a new hospital...Elite Medical Center is near the heart of the Strip and offers emergency care. It opened up last June, giving prospective patients a new option. It could be an expensive one. Elite Medical Center doesn’t accept insurance, so patients have to pay out-of-network rates...“We think that Elite Medical Center, if they want to operate as a hospital in the state, that they should operate as a CMS-certified center and they should be accredited and Medicare-participating,” said Bill Welch, president of the Nevada Hospital Association, which represents more than 60 Nevada facilities. “Without those things, we’re concerned.”

Translated: We don’t want competition from this upstart company.

Two bills introduced in a Senate health committee...in the Legislature would protect health care benefits in Nevada...Senate Bill 235 would extend pre-existing condition protections created by the federal Affordable Care Act to state law...If SB235 is approved, those with chronic conditions would continue to be protected from discrimination by insurers...A second bill, SB192, introduced in the committee...would require employers to offer comprehensive health coverage that covers all of the ACA’s 10 essential health benefits, including prescription and maternity coverage, if they pay employees at the lower end of a two-tiered minimum wage system...READ MORE

The Valley Health System will welcome 26 new resident physicians in general surgery and family medicine in July as the Las Vegas-based hospital chain aims to make its mark in graduate medical education...The hospitals will enroll 10 first-year family medicine residents and 16 general surgery residents in their first and second years of residency, said Dr. Andrew Eisen...without the residencies, we’re not going to be able to retain those folks to practice here...Just over half of the physicians who complete their residency training in Nevada continue to practice in-state, according to an analysis by the Association of American Medical Colleges, compared to about 35 percent of medical students who graduate in Nevada and go on to practice in the state...READ MORE

Putting together a student body that looks like Las Vegas is the outgrowth of a laser focus on recruiting students committed to the area and willing to help fill big gaps in the state’s health care-workforce. Nevada is chronically short on doctors...Nevada ranks 47th in the nation for the number of active doctors per 100,000 patients, and 48th in the country for its ratio of doctors to residents. In Southern Nevada, that averages out to just over 180 full-time physicians per 100,000 residents, compared to the national average of 303...The school of medicine (UNLV School of Medicine) is projected to have an economic impact of more than a billion dollars a year and create 8,000 jobs by the time it’s fully functional in 2030. But for now, it’s still growing up — the school is asking legislators this session for an additional $14.3 million to add two new cohorts of students, more residencies and additional faculty...One of the main requirements to enter the UNLV Medical School is that the students are originally from Nevada or have strong ties to the state...Although the UNLV School of Medicine doesn’t recruit students outside Nevada...“The reason is we feel like [it’s] more likely they’ll stay to practice here after graduation. People who apply that are not from Nevada we don’t even consider,” Joncich said. “This is what we need in Las Vegas. We need doctors to stay in Las Vegas and treat Las Vegans.”