Budget plan cuts funds to several state programs

President Bush's budget will mean some cuts in funding to hospitals, nursing homes and law enforcement in Nevada, a preliminary assessment shows.

Chuck Duarte, chief of the state Division of Health Care Financing and Policy, said Monday that Medicaid recipients won't be impacted - but there apparently will be reductions in federal funds for administration and for money that goes to state agencies and local government.

The state now collects a 6 percent tax from Nevada nursing homes and then gets matching federal funds from the Medicaid program. That has allowed the rates paid by the state to go from $122 a day per patient to $157 per day.

Under the Bush budget, Duarte said the maximum tax amount matched would be 3 percent, cutting in half the extra money that the nursing homes would get from the federal reimbursement.

The state also collects money from counties to get matching federal funds through the Medicaid program. Some of that extra federal money is then funneled back into hospitals while the state keeps a share. It provides the hospitals with an extra $77 million.

Duarte said it's too early to know exactly what the impact would be - but there will be fewer funds in that program.

Mike Willden, director of the state Department of Human Resources, said the Bush Administration didn't cap Medicaid spending, and there's going to be a $62 billion net increase in health and welfare spending.

The federal Justice Assistance Grant is reduced by 36 percent in President Bush's proposed budget, said Kim Evans, spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Public Safety.

That grant provided an estimated $4.3 million to Nevada this fiscal year. But it's too early to determine how much money Nevada will get because the allocations are based on such things as population and the crime rates in states, Evans said.