skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Is Health Reform a Great “Freaking Deal” for Nevada?

play audio
Play

Thursday, April 22, 2010   

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Gov. Gibbons and former New York Gov. Pataki kicked off the week pushing to rework the federal health care reform bill, but lawmakers in Carson City got a different message yesterday. Jon Sasser, statewide advocacy director for Legal Service, paraphrased Vice-President Joe Biden, telling members of the Legislative Committee on Health Care that the legislation is, quote, "a big freaking deal" for Nevada.

"I would go further to say it's one great freaking deal for Nevada; for an investment of some $550 million for the next decade, we will receive some five-and-a-half billion in healthcare funding from the federal government. That's an 11-to-one return on our money."

Congressman Dean Heller joined Pataki in condemning the health care law, criticizing it as lacking real reform. Sasser says Nevadans need to factor in the cost of doing nothing, because health costs would continue to rise, while the state received no new money from the federal government.

Sasser told lawmakers that without health care reform, the state can't keep doing business as usual because every day more Nevadans lose health coverage. He says that leaves local hospitals providing more services that they are not reimbursed for-and in the end those costs are paid by taxpayers.

"The trend is exploding uncompensated costs to over a billion dollars in 2009, while the percentage of patients with insurance is dropping rapidly."

While opponents argue the costs are too high, Sasser says it's a real bargain in the long run. He says not only will Nevada cover 153 thousand additional people through Medicaid, hundreds of thousands more will get an estimated $4 billion in subsidies to purchase private insurance.






get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021