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Nevada's health insurance exchange disputes a federal report claiming it misallocated funds for creating its program and recommending it consider refunding $893,000 to the Centers Medicare and Medicaid Services...A refund is not needed, the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange stated in a written response to the report from the Office of Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services...We believe that this conclusion is based upon an erroneous interpretation of federal guidance regarding cost allocation accounting principles and the timing of cost allocation adjustments...It also pointed to comments from CMS that not only back up the state agency's take on the matter but are also included in the OIG's own report...In its report, however, the OIG was not swayed, stating it believes "our first recommendation is valid." The OIG cited the Nevada agency for using outdated data when it was establishing its marketplace despite the availability of updated data, having no internal controls, allowing insufficient staff oversight, and having no written policy on the allocation process...The Nevada marketplace should have used the updated, better data to update its cost allocation methodology...

The UNLV School of Medicine is one step closer to recruiting its first class of students...The school received word...from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education that it was transitioning UNLV from applicant to candidate status, which will allow the school to receive a site visit...It's just great for the documents to be accepted and for us to be able to move on to the next step...After a school receives candidate status, a site visit occurs, which leads to a decision on preliminary accreditation. Schools that receive preliminary accreditation can begin accepting applications for enrollment...UNLV hopes to start recruiting in October; the first class of students is slated to begin classes July 2017...Full accreditation for the medical school is expected to take until 2021...The first class of 60 students will receive full scholarships thanks to the school's Founding Scholarship campaign...

Three Southern Nevada hospitals have filed paperwork to become Level 3 trauma centers. But University Medical Center officials say the move could threaten their county-run hospital if the applications are approved simultaneously...Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center, Mountain View Hospital, and Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center applied in the fall to be designated Level 3 trauma centers, the lowest level recognized by the Southern Nevada Trauma System...St. Rose Dominican Hospital - Siena campus is so far the only Level 3 trauma center in Southern Nevada, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center is the sole Level 2 and UMC functions as the lone level 1 facility. Trauma protocol dictates that patients with serious ailments be taken to designated trauma centers rather than standard emergency rooms...UMC sees about 12,000 patients at its Trauma Center annually. About 3,000 of those patients are moderately to severely injured. UMC advocates worry that creating three more Level 3 facilities would cause that number to dwindle, reducing the hospital's revenue and hurting its ability to train staff...Trauma center applications are first sent for review to the Southern Nevada Health District Trauma Advisory Board. Then, a recommendation is made to the Southern Nevada District Board of Health, which makes the final decision...

In the latest effort to make millions from the Strip’s lucrative drugstore sector, a CVS has hit the market with a big price tag...Capital Square Realty Advisors is trying to sell its CVS-occupied retail property at the base of Sky Las Vegas, a north Strip condo tower, for $42 million...That’s a 26 percent markup from the investment firm’s nearly $33.3 million purchase in spring 2014, county records show...It’s yet another move to cash in on a growing slice of commerce in the famed casino corridor. Drugstore chains Walgreens and CVS have been opening more stores on tourist-packed Las Vegas Boulevard, as they make big money there selling medicine, food, booze and Vegas-themed souvenirs, including flasks and shot glasses...CVS, for instance, plans to open a store in front of Bally’s — now under construction — in May, and it opened an outpost last year in the new three-story mall at Treasure Island...Investors also sold a Walgreens property on the north Strip in October for $37 million, or $2,310 per square foot. That was up 33 percent from what they paid in 2012.

A Nevada Congressman is pushing to make sure emergency medical teams retain the ability to administer life-saving medicine in the field. Congressman Joe Heck says the Drug Enforcement Agency wants certain drugs to be used only in hospitals, because of fears over the accountability of controlled substances and how they are administered. Heck says paramedics should be able to do the job they’re trained to do...current law states that medical directors can create standing orders that apply to emergency situations. If a patient meets certain criteria, a substance can be administered in the field...He says the DEA wants to take that ability away from paramedics, saying they can no longer use controlled substances, even under these standing orders from medical directors. Heck says this will hinder a paramedic’s ability to give quality care to a patient. He says this is an issue especially in rural areas, where a patient could be in an ambulance for a long time without proper care..."There’s a way to make sure that we can ensure the accountability of these controlled substances while still allowing the paramedics to administer these life-saving materials...this bill will specify the protocol for a physician creating a standing order. The bill also says standing orders must be made available for Attorney General Loretta Lynch at her request...

Vegas Voices is a weekly question-and-answer series featuring notable Las Vegans...Dr. Mitchell Forman came to Southern Nevada in 2004 to take a position as founding dean of Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine...overseeing the new osteopathic medical school was only part of Forman's work in Southern Nevada over the past dozen years. He has been an active and vocal advocate for medical education, patient education and community outreach here and served Southern Nevada's medical community as an officer or board member of organizations that included the Clark County Medical Society...Last week, Forman, 69, left his full-time position as dean of Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine...

• What's the biggest change you've noticed in Southern Nevada's medical landscape since your arrival?
• How has the local health care infrastructure changed?
• What was the most challenging aspect of starting a medical school here?
• How about patients? What do laymen here still have to understand about health care?
• What are your plans?

Local nonprofit Cure 4 the Kids Foundation announced...the creation of the first outpatient palliative care clinic specifically for children in Nevada...The Pediatric Palliative Care Clinic, which is supported by Cure 4 the Kids, debuted last month in Las Vegas at the Children's Specialty Center of Nevada... Having a child with complex medical issues is often overwhelming for parents and these special kids. The palliative program will offer the child and family the support they need...It focuses on providing relief to the symptoms of serious conditions such as cancer and genetic disorders whether or not the affected person is still seeking treatment...The center's services aren't akin to immediate end-of-life care...Instead, children affected by what the center calls "life-limiting" diseases will receive care without having to be admitted to the hospital...Although the cost of care may be covered by a family's major medical benefits, the services will be provided regardless of a family's ability to pay...

A contract dispute between a major hospital operator and a health care coalition in Southern Nevada could affect more than 275,000 people...Health Services Coalition, which negotiates health plans for about 20 labor groups and employers in Nevada...that talks were ongoing with Hospital Corporation of America, the operator of Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center and MountainView Hospital...The two parties are trying to negotiate a three- or four-year contract, according to the coalition... HCA wants to increase rates for access to their medical facilities but declined to provide additional details...Historically, we've had trouble with the increases they're requesting...Our main goal is to make sure that we have a contract or an extension past the deadline...

In the fight against brain disease, the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is putting its money on the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health...The mixed martial arts organization...announced a $1 million donation over five years in support of the center's Professional Fighters Brain Health Study, which aims to understand the long-term effects of brain trauma...UFC Chief Operating Officer Ike Lawrence Epstein announced the donation....The goal of the study is not just to gather data on trauma but also to determine if brain damage can be detected early enough for intervention...CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) is a degenerative brain disease found in people who have suffered repeated head trauma..."We're really pushing all of our athletes to make sure they come to this facility and get tested and be part of this study because that's the key to all of this," Epstein said.

Health officials say a disease believed to have caused a major increase in birth defects among Brazilian-born babies is unlikely to flourish in Nevada, though travelers could bring it to the state...As of Thursday, 31 cases of Zika virus disease have been confirmed in the United States, but all are related to travel outside of the country, Southern Nevada Health District Disease Investigation and Intervention Specialist Tony Fredrick said. There are no known cases in Nevada...Travel could bring infected people from these regions to the Silver State, said James M. Wilson, director of the Nevada State Infectious Disease Forecast Station at the University of Nevada, Reno...Trapping efforts in Southern Nevada have not shown any sign of the Aedes species of mosquito, which is believed to have been the primary cause of most recent infections...