VIDEO: Nevada Second Worst for Uninsured Children

Doctor Tamina McMillan with Nevada Health Centers speaks her patient’s language, literally and figuratively. Like the population she serves, McMillan grew up without regular access to health care. Now from the other side of the exam table, she recognizes the challenges faced by the uninsured.

“They have a tendency to wait, withhold or delay treatment because of the fear of getting a bill. So when I see them, a lot times things that could’ve been taken care of easily has grown into this big, huge mountain,” she said.

Roughly half of McMillan’s pediatric patients at the Nevada Health Center’s clinic in North Las Vegas do not have health insurance despite the availability of coverage through Nevada Check Up for the working poor and Medicaid for the most need.

To increase those numbers, along with her diagnosis, McMillan offers applications for both. “That removes the barrier in terms of saying, ‘Well, you need to apply.’ They actually have the application in hand and it’s up to them to fill it out or turn it in or not. You make it a little bit easier,” she said.

State health officials estimate only half of eligible children enroll due in large part to a lack of outreach.

Nancy Whitman with Nevada Covering Kids and Families suggests 70,000 kids in Clark County alone qualify for taxpayer-funded coverage, yet their parents don’t know to apply. “If nobody’s doing outreach, nobody’s sharing that information, parents don’t have a clue that anything even exists for their children,” she said.

Whitman’s non-profit network helps families to navigate the system and to complete the often complicated enrollment forms free of charge. Before the recession, few of its clients had incomes low enough to qualify for Medicaid. Now Whitman notes a shift as the working poor has become the unemployed.

Enrollment in Nevada Check Up is down while Medicaid has exceeded its projections by some 9,000 patients. In this economy, kids who used to qualify for Check Up are now poor enough for Medicaid.

Back at the clinic, McMillan averages fewer patients. In this economy, she says even doctor visits are a luxury. But those who do seek her services get a healthy dose of quality care from a doctor who speaks their language.

The economic downturn could lead to higher rates of crime, divorce, alcohol and drug abuse, depression and suicide. In part, Las Vegas ranked in 7th place due to its suicide rate. Mike Murphy, coroner for Clark County, told Businessweek.com that he has noticed an increase in economy-related suicides. He also said a lot of people come to Las Vegas looking to start over and then things don’t work out. Click here to read the full story.

The report, released today, says Nevada’s preterm birth rate is 13.9 percent, the highest on the West Coast.

The March of Dimes lists three reasons for Nevada’s high preterm birth rate: a high number of mothers lacking health insurance, smoking, and a rise in early induction labor and C-sections.

Overall, the nation received a D grade.

The study ranks Las Vegas as 15th out of the 50 most dangerous places for teen drivers. Nationwide, traffic crashes are the number one killer of teens from the ages of 15 to 20. AAA attributes the growing number of deaths in Las Vegas to the growing population, and they say parent involvement is a big part of prevention.

“Teens don’t have to be in big SUV’s that are hard to maneuver. These are the most inexperienced drivers on the road, so the simpler the better when it comes to educating teens. Picking the right car is one of the right answers,” said Michael Geeser with AAA.

Once teens get their license, many want their own car or to take the family car. AAA recommends that parents make sure their teen is driving a vehicle they can handle and the family SUV may be too much car for their experience level.

AAA also recommends that parents draw up a paper outlining what rules they expect new drivers to abide by, so teens know exactly what limits are placed on them as new drivers.

The study called San Francisco the safest city for teens while the Tampa area in Florida was deemed the worst place for teen drivers.

Citites are graded on short-term particle pollution, year-round particle pollution and ozone pollution. Although, no Nevada city made the top 10 worst list in any category, Clark County did get an F when it comes to high ozone days. Los Angeles and Pittsburgh were among the worst.

Those findings are part of a new report by Every Child Matters, which is a non-profit group that bases its rankings on 10 standards.

The group uses child well-being standards to ranks the states from best to worst. Nevada ranked 43rd in the nation our of all 50 states. It’s worst rankings included; uninsured children, child welfare expenses, child vulnerability and juvenile incarceration. 

The rankings were done by Prevention magazine and the American Podiatric Medical Association.

The cities ranked in the following order — Reno, Paradise, Sparks, Las Vegas, Spring Valley, Carson, Sunrise Manor, Henderson, Enterprise and North Las Vegas.

By the way, the best city for walking in the United States is Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Tell us where you like to walk.

I suppose those numbers don’t lie, but with the great weather, abundance of parks, bike lanes and recreation areas, it seems we should have ranked better. What  are your thoughts?

Here is the top 10 list (read the entire story here):

1. Memphis
2. New Orleans
3. Las Vegas
4. Detroit
5. Birmingham
6. Louisville
7. San Antonio
8. Nashville
9. Miami