Clark County Nevada Government

Nevada prepares for possible delay in fed funding

It's the long-range forecast of possible budget cuts that has state officials worried.

"The states haven't been provided a detailed list of what reductions we may be facing," a frustrated Mike Willden, director of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, said Friday. "Every time we turn around another trial balloon is floated."

Budget Director Jeff Mohlenkamp said Gov. Brian Sandoval is receiving updated briefings on developments and has a short-term plan to make ends meet if the stalemate persists.

Still, he sent a memo to department heads Thursday, reminding them not to dillydally in submitting requests to draw federal funds.

"No one really knows exactly how this will play out," Mohlenkamp told The Associated Press.

Nevada, he said, receives about $160 million a month from the federal government for various programs.

Though state officials are not overly concerned about a possible pause in the federal money flow, potential changes to federal-state funding formulas, known as FMAP, for Medicaid and other programs that provide food and health care for the poor are worrisome.

"The change in FMAP is probably one of the more fearful ones that we could experience," Willden said. "If that FMAP changes and the state has to put in more money, I frankly don't know how we'd do it."

State Sen. Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, agreed, saying a cost shift could jeopardize access to health care for the poor and the financial stability of hospitals.

"I think this is an incredibly important issue," said Leslie, who discussed the matter with Obama administration officials while attending "Nevada Day" at the White House last week.

"In short, we are teetering on the edge right now, and a cost shift could send us over the cliff," Leslie said.

The Nevada Hospital Association said 20 of 33 short-term acute care hospitals in the state are operating in the red, a statistic noted recently by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

"The idea that we would further cut back after the cuts they absorbed in the health care bill would probably put some of them out of business, or at the very least, force them to close some of their departments," she said.

Under the existing formula, the federal government pays 55 percent of Nevada's Medicaid costs, with the state picking up the other 45 percent.

With debate over the debt ceiling coming down to negotiations over deep program cuts sought by conservative Republicans, cash-strapped states fear they'll be required to shoulder more of the burden.

Raggio Subsidies aka Parasitic Siphoning | The Nevada View

$17 million Could have been used in a variety of ways in Clark County. Las Vegas money. . . needs to stay in Las Vegas. The Supreme Court of Nevada just said the same in a ruling for the Clean Water Coalition.

Clark County doesn’t need to subsidize other parts of Nevada. If the other parts of Nevada actually had to live within their own “real” budget . . . maybe they would start electing representatives who would vote for funding. As long as Clark County “gives” money to other parts of the state – they will never have a need to vote for funding. They have enough!

Meanwhile Vegas struggles because they have been attacked by parasitic cow counties.

I’m all for funding education in all parts of the state.

BUT. . . I think we are actually funding Republican politicians when we allow Clark County monies to spill over for schools into these districts. As long as the people there have more than enough money for their schools or their buildings or their police stations or any government entity- people will not change the way they vote.

We need people to vote DEMOCRAT. We might need to starve the parasitic cow counties of funds to get the people there to realize – they aren’t living within their own budgets. Bill Raggio set them up so they never really had to pay their own way. I have a feeling they might vote differently if they actually got ONLY the money they brought to the table.

Clark County does not need to to subsidize Republican voters in Nevada any longer.

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