Health Care
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 […]
Democratic leaders: ‘No room for compromise’ with Lombardo on election reform, other issues
Several legislative proposals championed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo during his state of the state speech Monday have already been declared dead on arrival by Democratic legislative leaders. “That’s a non-starter,” Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager said of the governor’s desire to undo the move to universal mail ballots, which Democrats passed in the 2021 legislative […]
Federal judge could decide as soon as February to yank abortion pill nationwide
WASHINGTON — A Texas judge could decide as soon as next month whether to force the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to pull its two-decade-old approval of the abortion pill, which accounts for more than half of pregnancy terminations in the United States. A nationwide injunction in the case, as requested by anti-abortion groups, would […]
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 […]
Affordable health insurance empowers us all
Working for yourself has any number of perks, like having the freedom to follow your passion and controlling your own schedule. Unfortunately, there is also the fear of being on your own, and of being able to take care of yourself and those you love. The one question that loomed over me every day as […]
240 unhoused individuals died in Southern Nevada last year
While attending last month’s vigil in Southern Nevada remembering unhoused people who died in 2022, Clark County Human Services Administrator Tim Burch took note of many of the stories circling in the background. An estimated 240 unhoused people died in Southern Nevada between Nov. 1 2021 and Oct. 31, 2022, which was around the same […]
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 […]
Nevada has a 2023 new year’s resolution: Liver transplants for those who need them
Nevada has a new year’s resolution for 2023: Perform the state’s first liver transplant and expand other organ transplant services for residents who need them. Nevada lawmakers on the Interim Finance Committee in October approved a $15 million grant to the Nevada Donor Network to help establish the Nevada Transplant Institute. It is one 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 […]
Here’s when drug prices will start to decrease for Medicare recipients
Starting next month, a $35 cap on insulin prices will go into effect for millions of Medicare recipients. The lower pricing is one of the first of several policy measures Americans will see in the coming months and years under the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law in August. The bill also requires pharmaceutical companies […]
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 […]