LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — State officials are extending a special enrollment period for those who no longer qualify for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, also known as CHIP.
This comes after hundreds of thousands of Nevadans were removed from Medicaid after pandemic-era provisions were rolled back at the end of March 2023.
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Nationally, about 20 million Americans were removed from the Medicaid program. According to a survey by a group called kFF, 23% of those that were dropped are still uninsured.
Here at home, Nevada Health Link said only about 4% of Nevadans who were deemed ineligible for Medicaid benefits have enrolled in a plan through Nevada Health Link.
“One challenge we are seeing among individuals who have recently lost Medicaid is that they may not have a current mailing address on file with Medicaid, so they might not have received their Medicaid termination letter, and therefore might not be aware that their coverage has ended,” said Russell Cook, Executive Director of Nevada Health Link. “We are committed to helping our community understand their options and enroll in a plan that meets their needs and budget … We want these Nevadans to know that Nevada Health Link is their best option for affordable coverage, and we have a call center and a statewide team of enrollment professionals ready to help them get the coverage they need.”
When is the new deadline for the special enrollment period?
Nevada Health Link is extending the special enrollment period through Nov. 30, 2024 so more Nevadans can sign up for health insurance coverage.
Where can I sign up for coverage?
State officials said eligible Nevadans can enroll in state-certified health insurance plans on Nevada Health Link’s website, even if they lost their Medicaid benefits more than 60 days prior. They add Nevada Health Link is the only place where consumers can qualify for financial assistance to help offset the cost of premiums.
Will Nevada Health Link contact me?
In addition to extending the special enrollment period, Nevada Health Link is rolling out an SMS texting initiative designed to reach and engage Nevadans who no longer qualify. Cook said the organization expects to reach over 80,000 Nevadans through the campaign. He adds they will only be reaching out through SMS texting to households whose information was received as part of their account transfer process from Medicaid.
How do I know if the text is really from Nevada Health Link?
Legitimate texts from Nevada Health Link will have an image attached to each text with the Nevada health logo and the Nevada State Seal.
What if I need additional help?
Assistance is available online or over the phone. You can visit Nevada Health Link’s website or call 1-800-547-2927. The Nevada Health Link Call Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
Paul Selberg writes from Las Vegas.
click to expand photos
Las Vegas High’s baseball team claimed a 3-2 home win over Coronado on Friday.
Las Vegas (9-13-1) next hosts Rancho at 10 a.m. Saturday. Coronado (13-14) hosts Chaparral at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada’s jobless rate is holding steady, but the state is still adding jobs.
A new report from DETR shows February’s unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3 percent, with the labor force growing by nearly 3,800 people.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada unemployment rate rises to 5.3% in January
Nevada now has about 1.6 million nonfarm jobs, up 2.2 percent over the past year and 1,500 more jobs than in January.
“This month’s report shows a strengthening labor market,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist. ”Compared to the report for January, the pace of job gains in the past year increased from 1.9% to 2.2%, building on what was already the fastest pace of job growth in the country. While the unemployment rate remained stable, the labor force participation rate rose to 63.7%, 1.7 percentage points higher than the national level.”
In Las Vegas, employment ticked up by 1,100 jobs in February, about 0.1 percent, and is up more than 25,000 jobs compared to last year.
Reno added 1,000 jobs on the month, while Carson City shed about 200 but is still slightly above where it was a year ago.
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