December 12, 2007 

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — About 189,000 people — one out of every 12 Nevadans — are in working families that will spend more than a fourth of their pretax earnings on out-of-pocket medical expenses next year, a new study shows.

PLAN Executive Director Bob Fulkerson suggests "draconian" step of establishing state "rate-setting" commission to hold down medical costs in Nevada.

December 12, 2007 

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — About 189,000 people — one out of every 12 Nevadans — are in working families that will spend more than a fourth of their pretax earnings on out-of-pocket medical expenses next year, a new study shows.

The Families USA study also shows nearly three-quarters of those Nevadans are covered by health insurance — which means insurance “simply no longer offers the protection that America’s families need,” Ron Pollack, the nonpartisan group’s executive director, said Wednesday.

The study also said about 657,000 Nevadans under age 61 are in families that in 2008 will spend more than 10 percent of pretax earnings on health care not covered by insurance. Of those, the study shows that 81 percent have health insurance.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who joined with Pollack in discussing the study by the Washington, D.C.-based group, said the document shows that working families “are stuck between a rock and a hard spot,” and it’s “unconscionable” to not find a solution.

Pollack said states can take some steps to help with the problem but ultimately a federal-level solution is needed.

Bob Fulkerson of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, who also participated in the study discussion, said one state-level solution, while “draconian,” might be to consider a rate-setting commission to hold down medical costs.
The Families USA study pins the blame on rising health care costs, higher deductibles for insurance plans and “the near-monopoly power of insurance companies coupled with little or no regulation.”

The study, part of a state-by-state series, based its estimates on a statistical model by The Lewin Group of Virginia and federal census, Medicaid and Medicare data.
The report has added significance for Nevada since the federal government is currently reviewing UnitedHealth Group’s pending $2.6 billion purchase of Sierra Health Services Inc., the state’s largest health insurer.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has asked the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to resolve widely varying estimates of the market impact of that deal, which he said could hurt Nevada consumers if UnitedHealth Group ends up with an overwhelming HMO and Medicare market share.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez, chairwoman of the House Committee on Small Business, has said United would go from a 12 percent share of the HMO market in Nevada to an 80 percent share, and in the Las Vegas area from a 14 percent share to 94 percent.

But UnitedHealth spokesman Tyler Mason disputed the percentages, saying the market share of the combined companies would be only 28 percent statewide and 33 percent in the Las Vegas area.

Mason also has said that UnitedHealth and Sierra promised there would be no premium increases “as a direct result” of the deal.”

The Justice Department’s approval is the last one needed for the deal to go through. Regulators in Nevada, California and Arizona already have endorsed the plan — although Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto still could intervene.

Link to original story.