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Committee hears Medicaid coverage codification and proposed rate increases for opioid treatment providers
Summary
Senate Bill 300 would codify the 2023 federal Medicaid expansion for certain mental‑health and addiction counseling services at FQHCs and asks DHHS to pursue waivers as needed; sponsors proposed a conceptual amendment to raise OTP medication administration rates and to fund the increases with the hospital provider tax.
Senate Bill 300 would insert into Nevada statute the federal Medicaid coverage changes enacted in 2023 so that services provided by certain master’s‑level mental‑health counselors and addiction counselors at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are explicitly covered under state law. Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop said the bill would also require the director of the Department of Health and Human Services to apply for any federal waivers needed to implement the law.
Why it matters: Testimony from FQHC and treatment providers said codifying the federal change removes uncertainty, expands access to reimbursable services at community clinics and supports care for foster children and pregnant women with opioid use disorder. Providers said OTP reimbursement and medication administration rates are decades old and insufficient to sustain current operations.
What proponents said: Helen Foley (FirstMed) described FirstMed’s network of clinics and its role serving foster children; Desert Treatment Clinic’s Dr. Robert Toledo discussed medication‑assisted treatment capacity and the long‑stagnant daily reimbursement for OTP medication administration. Erin Donohue (Acadia CTC) described rising overdose deaths in Nevada and urged increased funding for OTPs to expand capacity.
Amendment and funding mechanism: Committee discussion introduced a conceptual amendment to phase in increases in the per‑transaction medication administration reimbursement for OTPs from about $3 to $10 in year 1 and $15.34 in year 2, contingent on availability of funds. Sponsors said the funding mechanism for the increase would come from budget account 3177 (hospital provider tax fund). An initial estimate supplied during testimony placed the total cost of the proposed rate changes at about $1.7 million over the biennium; the original fiscal note for other items in the bill was approximately $91,463 over the biennium.
Agency follow‑up: Nevada Medicaid staff said they would confirm whether provider assessment (provider tax) dollars could be used to cover the fiscal note and that billing complexities at FQHCs would be reviewed.
Status: The committee took testimony from providers, associations and callers and received a conceptual amendment; no final committee vote on passage was recorded during the hearing.
