Nevada Piglet Book targets more government waste
CARSON CITY — That oinking sound you hear means it’s time for the Nevada Piglet Book, a compendium of state and local government waste produced every two years by the Nevada Policy Research Institute.
From welfare payments sent to deceased individuals to the disastrous implementation of the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, the 2014 report contains what the conservative think tank calls “some of the most ridiculous examples of government waste” in the state.
Compiled by Geoffrey Lawrence and Cameron Belt with NPRI, the annual report takes particular note of the health exchange, which was intended to give Nevada more oversight of the implementation of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The report said the “fiasco” perpetrated by state officials and Xerox, the state’s contractor, “may soon rank among the greatest catastrophes in Nevada history.”
The state-run exchange is expected to be merged with the federal exchange, which the state could have participated in anyway if state officials, including Gov. Brian Sandoval and all members of the 2011 Legislature, had not rushed to establish its own system, the report said.
Among other targets of the report:
■ A state audit that found 67 people collecting unemployment benefits totaling $241,000 while incarcerated in state correctional facilities in 2012. Auditors said unemployment benefits that might have been paid to inmates could total $5 million from 2009 to 2011.
■ State auditors also found the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation did not compare information with death records. In January 2012, improper payments totaled $40,417. Similar issues were found with the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services.
The report addresses financial losses by University Medical Center, saying Clark County taxpayers end up covering losses, even those due to mismanagement.
UMC administrators “routinely allowed patients with outstanding bills to repeatedly return for non-emergency treatments without ever trying to arrange for payment,” the report said.
The report said: “This year’s edition of The Piglet Book makes clear that government must be restricted to a size and scope that protects the rule of law and allows free individuals to supply the needs of society through the profound intelligences that operate within the marketplace.”
Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.
