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Amid NV’s health provider shortage, insurance companies denying specialists entry in networks
Last year, Michelle McGuire, a psychologist and chief executive officer of Creative Behavioral Connections, a clinic dedicated to treating children with autism, worked 10 weeks straight. Her weekdays were filled with assessing patients for autism, developing treatment plans, and overseeing her clinic’s day-to-day operations. Her weekends were spent in an arduous battle with insurance companies. […]
Democrats line up behind bill to codify Sisolak executive order protecting abortion rights
Nevada Democrats have introduced legislation to codify former Gov. Steve Sisolak’s executive order that protects out-of-state patients who receive abortion care in Nevada from being extradited after the fall of Roe v. Wade last year. “This is a crucial step in continuing to shore up protections for abortion patients in Nevada,” Lindsey Harmon, the executive […]
County commission approves contracts to help child sex traffic victims, survivors
On Tuesday, the Clark County Commission approved contracts for two residential facilities for children who were sex trafficked. Nevada, specifically Las Vegas, has long been a hotspot for child victims of commercial sex trafficking. St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, a nonprofit, and Eagle Quest, the largest private provider of behavioral health service in the valley, […]
SNHD publishes plan with ‘realistic timelines for improving public health’
The Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) has released a plan to address chronic diseases and other public health priorities for Clark County in the next three to five years. The process of developing the Southern Nevada Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) started in Oct. 2021. Government agencies, including the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern […]
Nevada ER visits for anxiety, depression skyrocketed in last decade
In Nevada, mental health visits to emergency rooms have skyrocketed in the last nine years from 2010 to 2019, but saw a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the State of Nevada Division of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Department of Public and Behavioral Health. The spikes in data come from Nevadans […]
One new rule survives state regulatory freeze, another stalled by it
The Nevada Board of Health voted on Jan. 20 to authorize a temporary regulation implementing a 35 cent surcharge on phone bills with the proceeds going to the state’s participation in the federal 988 mental health hotline. Gov. Joe Lombardo earlier this month issued an executive order freezing new regulations and ordering a review of […]
Behavioral health board backs bump in property transfer tax to fund affordable housing
Proposed state legislation backed by the Clark Regional Behavioral Health Board would increase the real property transfer tax by 20 cents for every $500 of value to build affordable housing for Nevadans with mental health conditions, disabilities, and who are lower income. Senate Bill 68, which was requested by the Senate Committee on Revenue and […]
Healing center for child sex trafficking victims faces funding challenge
Nevada, especially Las Vegas, has long been identified with sex trafficking, and that includes child sex trafficking. Even though Nevada’s population is only about one-fourth the size of Pennsylvania’s, in 2017 the two states were tied at 9th for the states with the most reported trafficking cases – the vast majority of which are sex […]
Expanded ACA subsidies help more Nevadans get health care coverage
Open enrollment for health insurance plans in Nevada ends on Jan 15. It’s anticipated to be the largest enrollment for plans offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the state’s history, a development that is happening nationwide. Nearly three in four people in the U.S. enrolled through the marketplace receive health care coverage that’s […]
Law decriminalizing many traffic tickets goes into effect Jan. 1
Nevada’s legislation converting some traffic citations from criminal offenses to civil ones goes into effect on Jan. 1, but leeway afforded separate court jurisdictions in administering the new law has created uncertainty about its implementation. Assembly Bill 116 was passed in 2021 with the aim of ushering in a more equitable system for communities of […]
CCSD, lawmaker eye shift to opt-out sex education, more medically accurate info
The Clark County School District wants to make sex education mandatory unless parents explicitly opt their child out – a switch from the current process wherein parents must explicitly opt their child in to health education. CCSD, the nation’s fifth-largest school district, declined to elaborate on its plans but included the proposal in a list […]
VA to host town hall for Nevada veterans seeking PACT Act benefits
The Veterans Administration is hosting town halls in all 50 states this month to help veterans seeking benefits under the PACT Act. Dubbed “PACT Act Week of Action” the town halls will explain the PACT Act, legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden in August that expands health care benefits for veterans exposed to […]