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Wal-Mart Supercenter customers expressed shock, frustration and dismay Sunday night in the final hours before closure of the Nellis Boulevard store, one of the few grocery shopping venues for Nellis Air Force Base families and others who live nearby...Shock that the store was closing so suddenly — just two days after...Wal-Mart Stores Inc., announced that the store at 4350 N. Nellis Blvd. was one of the 269 stores slated for closure globally and the only one in the Las Vegas Valley...Frustration that they now would have to travel farther to buy groceries, fill prescriptions and pick up other goods.

Two days ahead of a key signup deadline, the federal government released new enrollment numbers for Nevada's health insurance exchange...Nevada Health Link had 77,411 enrollees on Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services reported...That means the exchange has already bested the 72,000 enrollees that bought coverage through the marketplace in all of 2015's open-enrollment period...The department said the latest numbers include existing customers who were automatically re-enrolled, though officials didn't break down how many enrollees were new versus returning...Consumers who haven't bought coverage by Jan. 31 face a federal tax of 2.5 percent of household income, or $695 per adult and $347.50 per child up to a household maximum of $2,085 — whichever is higher.

A Clark County child died from the flu, being the first pediatric flu-related death in Clark County for the 2015-16 season, the Southern Nevada Health District said Wednesday...The health district said the child was younger than 5 and that no other information about the death will be released...Clark County reported 26 deaths, 318 hospitalizations and 583 cases of the flu from Oct. 1, 2014, to May 31, 2015.

The beauty boutique at 1946 Village Center Circle, inside Summerlin's Trails Village Center, has seen walk-in traffic tumble as much as 75 percent since the closure of grocer Haggen (Haggen Food & Pharmacy) next door, said owner Donna Catalfamo...Catalfamo's story illustrates how the closure of an anchor tenant in a neighborhood shopping center ripples down to small companies nearby. And a number of smaller businesses are feeling that effect today: Three of Haggen's seven Southern Nevada stores — locations at 1940 Village Center Circle, 820 S. Rampart Blvd. and 1031 Nevada Highway in Boulder City — remain empty, with few suitors in sight..."Traffic was down the minute the Haggen sign went up (in June)," Catalfamo said. "We started to feel the effects after the first week."...litigation can complicate leasing. Haggen is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and in August, it sued Albertsons, which sold Haggen 146 stores across the West for $300 million, alleging that Albertsons sabotaged its market debuts.

The drugstore arms race on the Strip is ratcheting up another notch...Workers are building a roughly 20,190-square-foot CVS store near the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road, in front of Bally’s. The two-story property will have a pharmacy and is scheduled to open in May…It’s the latest Walgreens or CVS to land in the famed tourist-packed casino corridor, where the drugstores make big money — and pay big rents — selling medicine, food, alcohol and such Vegas-themed souvenirs as shot glasses, margarita cups, ash trays and gallon-sized flasks...This lucrative slice of commerce on the boulevard is only growing...CVS opened a store last year in the new three-story mall at Treasure Island and now has four outposts in the resort corridor, including the one at Bally’s.

A new online tool is offering healthcare data that's broken down for each Nevada county. Reno Public Radio's Michelle Billman reports the database provides snapshots on how different counties compare on everything from their healthcare workforce to how many of their residents have health insurance…The project is called the Nevada Instant Atlas and it looks at healthcare indicators, including population demographics like income. It also profiles the overall health of people in a given area, along with their access, or lack of access, to medical specialists.

More than 72,600 Nevadans signed up for a Nevada Health Link plan between Nov. 1 and Saturday, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services....That's more than double the 35,000 enrollees who had selected a plan by this time in 2014...Consumers had to have a plan in place by Dec. 17 to qualify for coverage that would begin on Jan. 1, but they have until Jan. 31 to buy insurance and avoid a federal tax for lacking coverage. The tax in 2016 will equal 2.5 percent of household income, or $695 per adult and $347.50 per child up to a household maximum of $2,085 — whichever is higher...Nearly 70 percent of Nevada's exchange enrollees can find plans for $75 a month or less after tax credits...

Nevada officials on Wednesday assured advocates in Clark County that any process to privatize Medicaid services for the elderly, blind and disabled will move slowly and will be transparent...Advocates with Nevadans for the Common Good, a coalition of Las Vegas Valley institutions advocating for several issues including protection for vulnerable senior citizens...met privately with state officials. Attendees at the closed-door meeting included Richard Whitley, director of the state's Health and Human Services Department...Barbara Paulsen, leader with Nevadans for the Common Good, said the meeting was positive and that advocates were pleased with what they learned. She said the coalition's push for transparency and the Las Vegas Review-Journal's reporting to get the information on the potential switch out to the public may have had an "impact on the process."..."Our concern was that the decision was already made and it was just all going to go very quickly without getting any input (from the public)," she said Wednesday. "That doesn't seem to be the case."...After gathering information, state officials will develop a report that will be sent to the governor and the Legislature, she said. The governor would ultimately have to make a recommendation, which the state's Interim Finance Committee would have to approve, according to the legislation.

NOTICE OF TOWN HALL AND LISTENING SESSION ON MEDICAID MANAGED CARE EXPANSION OPTIONS

• 1/20/2016 Clark County Library - 1401 East Flamingo Road - Las Vegas
• 2/2/2016   Sahara West Library - 9600 West Sahara Avenue - Las Vegas
• 2/2/2016 Summerlin Library - 1771 Inner Circle - Las Vegas
• 2/17/2016 William Bee Ririe Hospital - 1500 Avenue H - Ely
• 2/19/2016 Humboldt General Hospital - 118 E. Haskell Street - Winnemucca

A 20-year-old woman at the center of an end-of-life court battle over her treatment at a Reno hospital has died while still on life support...Aden Hailu died about 4:30 p.m. Monday at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center, where she never awoke from anesthesia after surgery April 1, said David O’Mara, the attorney representing Hailu’s father and family...Hailu’s father, Fanuel Gebreyes, lost a bid in court last week to delay brain electroencephalogram, or EEG, tests that the hospital said would show she was brain dead and wouldn’t recover...Hailu was from Las Vegas and was a freshman at the University of Nevada, Reno...Doctors say she suffered severe low blood pressure and a lack of oxygen to the brain during surgery to remove her appendix and explore the cause of unspecified abdominal pain, according to court documents.

According to an annual report from the United Health Foundation, Nevada is ranked 38th in the U.S. when it comes to health...Nevada’s rank in 2014 was 39, so the state has improved over the past year. Here are some snapshots of how Nevada compares to national numbers for health-related topics:

• In Nevada, 17 percent of people smoke compared to the 18 percent national average.
• Drug deaths are significantly higher in Nevada, with 22.4 overdose deaths per 100,000 people compared to a 13.5 death average nationally.
• Nevada is average when it comes to the inactivity of adults. 22.5 percent of adults in Nevada are physically inactive compared with 22.6 nationally.
• Infant mortality is lower in Nevada, with 5.1 deaths per 1,000 live births compared to the 6 national average.
• In Nevada, 27.7 percent of adults are obese compared to the national average of 29.6. For diabetes, 9.6 percent of Nevadan adults have diabetes compared to 10 percent nationwide.
• For children’s vaccinations, 67.7 percent of children in Nevada are immunized compared to 71.6 nationally.

The top five healthiest states in the nation, according to the report, include Hawaii, Vermont, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Hampshire