Health

RENO, NV – June 19, 2012 – Western Bariatric Institute, a leading weight management clinic headquartered in Reno, Nevada, and the Surgery Center of Reno, recently announced that local resident, Lacey Stultz, is the winner of their annual Free Lap-Band Procedure Contest. This is quite an honor as Lacey was selected from 446 entries! First, healthcare and medical professionals selected six top finalists, and then the public voted on the winner from videos posted online.

Dating back to Republican President Theodore Roosevelt (1904) he and every president since has toyed with some kind of a health care plan, but none have had the appetite to place their political careers on the line for it with the exception of President Barrack Obama.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said today he needs a lot of questions answered before he can decide whether to expand Medicaid eligibility in Nevada, and that it could take several months to resolve all the uncertainties.

“There’s no specific time schedule,” he said. “I mean I understand right now we’ve had the Supreme Court decision. Everyone has been waiting for that. I think there are still people that are trying to interpret it.

CARSON CITY – Nevada officials are busy preparing cost and enrollment estimates so Gov. Brian Sandoval will have reliable information before deciding whether to expand Medicaid following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month upholding much of the Affordable Care Act.

The Lake Tahoe Science Consortium collaborated with University of Nevada, Reno’s Department of Art to create “Visualizing Change,” a photographic art expedition intended to convey concepts in environmental restoration at Lake Tahoe to the scientific community and general public. The exhibit is located in the Prim Desert Research Library at Sierra Nevada College at Lake Tahoe’s Incline Village. It features photography and oil painting contributions from eight noted artists and is free and open to the public through July 27.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s Public Employees’ Retirement System earned an estimated 2.9 percent return on its investments in the fiscal year ending June 30, and is now valued at $25.8 billion, an official with the plan said today.

The 2012 return is below the 8 percent anticipated annual return for the system’s investments over the long term.

I am writing to you about the recent statement about the Nye Regional Medical Center closing it doors if they don't get some help from the County or State. I enclosing a letter that explains why the state or county should allow it to close. There is serious mismanagement that has been going on for the last 4 years. Even through its the only health care facility's within a 100 plus miles still as a employee of the hospital I have witness many wrong doings and the placing of key personnel in positions that they would never be able to hold in any other hospital or clinic.

CARSON CITY – A letter from 12 U.S. Senators and 61 members of the House to the nation’s governors asking them to oppose the creation of health care exchanges under the Affordable Care Act comes too late to have any effect in Nevada.

CARSON CITY – A television ad campaign sponsored by the pro-Democrat Patriot Majority attacking GOP Sen. Dean Heller on his Medicare votes has expanded to Las Vegas and is again being called false by his campaign.

The ads say Heller voted to “end Medicare,” twice, once while serving in the House from the 2^nd Congressional District and once after being appointed to the Senate by Gov. Brian Sandoval in April 2011

The Sierra Nevada Health Center in Carson City will hold a grand opening July 16 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The public is invited.
A ribbon cutting ceremony will feature a reception, with refreshments, hors d’oeuvres, entertainment, raffle prizes and guided tours. Keynote speakers include: Mayor Bob Crowell, William G. Gordon, Board Chairman of Nevada Health Centers, Inc., and Thomas G. Chase, CEO of Nevada Health Centers, Inc.

CARSON CITY – The House Ethics Committee announced today that it has established an investigative subcommittee to review ethics questions raised about Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and whether she inappropriately furthered the business interests of her husband, Dr. Larry Lehrner.

The committee voted unanimously on June 29 to establish the subcommittee.

CARSON CITY – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today that Nevada is among 40 states where people with Medicare can receive health care from an Accountable Care Organization (ACO).

ACOs are organizations formed by groups of doctors and other health care providers that have agreed to work together to coordinate care for people with Medicare.

CARSON CITY – Marcia Giller, 76, of Reno, has been sentenced to prison for two felony offenses of submitting false Medicaid claims, the Attorney General’s office announced this week.

Washoe County District Judge Steven Kosach sentenced Giller on Tuesday to 18 to 48 months imprisonment for each count, to be served consecutively, and additionally ordered Giller to pay $226,000 in restitution, penalties and costs.

CARSON CITY – Assemblyman Harvey Munford, D-Las Vegas, said today he will try again with a bill in the 2013 session to impose a fee on some items sold at fast-food restaurants in an effort to help combat the national obesity epidemic.

CARSON CITY – The Silver State Health Insurance Exchange is moving forward to ensure that Nevada will have a state based exchange operational by Oct. 1, 2013, following the Supreme Court ruling Thursday upholding most of the federal health care law.

To date the Exchange has been awarded approximately $24.7 million in federal grants to pay for its establishment and implementation.

You probably won’t read this, since it’s about exercise, but I think it’s time for a few words about the benefits of sweating. First of all, exercise isn’t supposed to be easy—especially if you have been a lounge lizard for years. And, no it isn’t over in six weeks. You will need to sweat and be very consistent about your workout schedule for a lot longer than six weeks. Sounds depressing doesn’t it? It means you must build your life around exercise, not vise versa!

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s taxable sales climbed by 5.1 percent in April over April 2011, continuing a 22 consecutive month trend of positive numbers for the important economic indicator, the state Department of Taxation reported this week.

The $3.5 billion in taxable purchases in April were buoyed by double-digit gains in several major categories, including construction; up 16.1 percent, merchant wholesalers-durable goods, up 10.2 percent; and motor vehicle and parts dealers, up 10.5 percent.

CARSON CITY – The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has voted to approve two new standards that the group says will substantially improve the accounting and financial reporting of public employee pensions by state and local governments.

The Supreme Court today upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the court's liberal wing in a 5-4 vote.

Back in March, I wrote how this whole case hinged on flawed wording in the law when it was written. The authors failed to see how they should have framed this as a tax, not a mandate, and achieved the same result in a more constitutionally friendly way.

Here is how I framed it:

Smith Valley High School Health Science students Sierra Hunewill and Mikayla DeBusk competed in Orlando, Florida June 21 at the National HOSA Leadership Conference. They traveled with over 125 students from Nevada to compete in health science related academic events. The two girls won the Forensic Science competition at state this year so therefore qualified for nationals. They had to make it to the second round in Florida by being in the top 20 with almost 200 competitors. They then went on to solve a crime scene and to determine the cause and time of death.

CARSON CITY – U.S. Senate candidate and Rep. Shelley Berkley defended her efforts to preserve a kidney transplant program in Nevada in 2008, saying she never advocated for anything that was not in the best interests of patients and patient care.

Berkley, D-Nev., defended her role in preserving the program in response to questions in an interview on the Face To Face television program.

CARSON CITY – Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford said today he is disappointed that a number of state agencies are seeking to divert funds intended to fill vacant jobs to other purposes, including the purchase of vehicles, computers and furniture.

He accused them of “gaming the system” by seeking to shift their budget priorities one year after the Legislature adjourned and as the 2012 fiscal year comes to a close June 30.

CARSON CITY – The financial health of Nevada’s public employee pension plan is cause for serious concern because it is only 70 percent funded as of fiscal year 2010 with a $10 billion gap, a national organization reported this week.

The Pew Center on the States said the funding ratio in Nevada is below the 80 percent benchmark that fiscal experts recommend for a sustainable program.

The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation announced that the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Elko Boys & Girls Club (Elko, Nev.) will both receive a $10,000 start-up grant to implement Triple Play programming. Additionally, Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows (Reno, Nev.) and Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada (Carson, Nev.) will receive $5,000 Triple Play Healthy Habits grants to provide programming focused on teaching the importance of healthy eating habits and being physically active.

LAS VEGAS — Six-hundred or so of the state’s Democratic party faithful this morning attended their annual state convention at the Bally’s Hotel conference center in Las Vegas. Five-hundred sixty-two delegates were credentialed but about two dozen vendors lined both sides of the room and guests were also welcomed.

A new bus service at Lake Tahoe that will run from Incline Village to Sand Harbor Beach State Recreation Area will begin this month.
A collaboration of the Tahoe Transportation District, the Nevada Division of State Parks, Nevada Department of Transportation, Nevada Highway Patrol and Washoe County School District will inaugurate the East Shore Express, a pilot Park and Ride bus service beginning June 15 and will run to Sept. 3, 2012.

The 2012 Barton Health Wellness Lecture Series continues with a presentation: Bone Health in the Maturing Athlete
from 6 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 27, at the Carson City Community Center.

The University of Nevada, Reno’s Sudeep Chandra, a leading Lake Tahoe scientist who has studied invasive species and limnology at the lake for 20 years, said issuing permits for commercial harvesting of crayfish at Lake Tahoe will help improve clarity at the pristine lake, as well as take away a food source for other invasive species that threaten lake clarity and ecosystems.

What is the American Cancer Society’s Bark For Life?

The American Cancer Society’s Bark For Life is a noncompetitive walking event for dogs and their owners to raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society’s fight against cancer.

Bark For Life honors the life long contributions of canine caregivers. It presents an opportunity for people to be empowered through their canine companion partnerships and to contribute to the mission of the American Cancer Society to eliminate cancer as a major health problem.

When is the last time you and your dog saved a life?

A reader wrote in today asking about the property tax hike the Carson City Board of Supervisors approved unanimously last week. What follows is a breakdown:

The property tax rate will go from $3.1872 to $3.66. If you do the math, that works out to a 13 percent increase. However, state law limits the amount of increase that homeowners have to pay to 3 percent per year, 6.4 percent on commercial properties. They estimate that taxes on average will increase 3 percent next year under this new rate, and account for about $3 million more than they would under the old rate.