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Nevada data indicates sharp increase in suicides among two groups: 18 to 24, and over 65
Note: This story mentions suicide. Suicide is preventable. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 988. Nevadans can reach services by calling, texting, or chatting online. To find mental and behavioral health services in Nevada, visit:behavioralhealthvn.org Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people 8-17, 18-24, and 25-44 years of age — and more […]
New federal rule aims to expand access to behavioral health care, Nevada Health Link
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Tuesday the 2024 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters Final Rule, a new federal policy that will expand access to behavioral health services and health care coverage by changing special enrollment period qualifications on the public marketplace in 2024. More Americans and Nevadans are getting access to […]
Health care stipends for long-term substitute teachers passed out of committee
Nevada school districts would have to provide at least a $450 monthly health care coverage stipend for long-term substitute teachers who are hired for 30 or more consecutive days, under a bill sponsored by several Democratic members of the assembly that passed out of a legislative panel Thursday. Nevada has an ongoing teacher shortage and […]
Fentanyl bills put NV on path to drug war mistakes of the past, critics warn
Erica Roth with the Washoe County Public Defender’s Office held up four ubiquitous pink sugar packets at her testimony against two sister bills that criminalize possession of fentanyl or any derivative or mixture that contains fentanyl as trafficking starting at 4 grams. “We have four grams of sugar here,” Roth told the Senate Committee on […]
Senate bill aims to protect Nevada doctors who provide gender-affirming care
For Rev. Li Arinee, life started at 45, when he received gender-affirming care. He testified in front of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor Wednesday during a hearing for a bill that would provide protections for health care providers and patients visiting Nevada to obtain gender-affirming health care. “Before then, I attempted to self-remove […]
Culinary, PhRMA oppose bill to extend lower Medicare negotiated drug prices to all Nevadans
Dr. Helene Nepomuceno, a chief surgery resident in Las Vegas, saw a patient with a diabetic wound who only had $12 in their bank account and couldn’t afford antibiotics. Weeks later he returned to the hospital to get his foot amputated. That story was among many shared by Nevadans impacted by high prescription drug costs, […]
Legislation would make pandemic-era expansion of telehealth services permanent
A temporary pandemic-era law expanding access to telehealth would be made permanent under legislation being considered by Nevada lawmakers. Senate Bill 119 would also require third party insurers to cover telehealth at the same rates as in-person care. Telehealth access had been expanded under the state’s Declaration of Emergency for COVID-19, which ended on May […]
Nevada 988 hotline in-state answer rates among nation’s lowest
Despite being one of only five states that passed legislation to fund the 988 National Suicide Prevention programming, Nevada had one of the nation’s lowest percentages of calls answered within state borders, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report that compared answer rates nationally. Only Texas, Alabama, South Carolina and Florida had lower in-state answer […]
A pair of measures aim to tackle state’s behavioral health provider shortage
All of Nevada’s counties are federally designated mental health provider shortage areas. The state ranks last in the nation for mental health metrics like access to care and high prevalence of mental illness. And it ranks second in the Mountain West region with the lowest mental health workforce availability, with only one professional to every […]
Domestic violence survivors’ most urgent priority is housing, report says
Housing is the most common unmet need for domestic violence survivors in Nevada, according to the recently released National Network to End Domestic Violence’s (NNEDV) 17th Annual Domestic Violence Counts report. The Nevada annual report is based on 571 people who sought domestic violence services in a 24-hour period on Sept. 7, 2022, including the […]
Secretary of State warns Nevadans against tax filing frauds
Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar reminds Nevadans to be on the lookout for unregistered tax preparers this tax season. “Some of our most vulnerable communities are falling for fraudsters who say they have registered tax preparers and take advantage of those who may not know the signs to look for,” Aguilar said in a press […]
Measure aims to assure STI treatment, contraception for minors without parental consent
For more than half a century, it has been legal in Nevada for minors to receive treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) without parental consent through a federal family planning program called Title X. Amid curtailed Title X funding, several state public health providers lost access to the funding and Title X authorization, and now […]