Hearings scheduled on buyout

The Nevada Division of Insurance has scheduled three hearings to gather public comments on UnitedHealth Group’s proposed buyout of Sierra Health Services.

The sessions will happen July 25 at 9:30 a.m. in the Elko County Commission Chambers in Elko; July 26 at 9:30 a.m. in the Reno City Council Chambers; and July 27 at 9:30 a.m. in the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas. People who want to speak at the sessions must register with the insurance division by July 23.

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons released a statement Friday asking Nevada Insurance Commissioner Alice Molasky-Arman to schedule the hearings, which would supplement a June 14 public- comment meeting held in Carson City and video- conferenced live to the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas.

Gibbons issued his first call for additional public comment during the June 14 session, saying in a statement that he hadn’t formed an opinion on the merger but that he wanted to “ensure that we give the public and health-care providers an opportunity to air and discuss concerns about” the buyout.

Based partly on Gibbons’ request, Molasky-Arman continued the June 14 session and said she would seek more input from consumers and others who want to weigh in on the merger.

Because Molasky-Arman continued the meeting rather than officially adjourning it, the 30-day deadline for issuing a decision on the merger hasn’t technically kicked in, said Nicole Moon, a spokeswoman with the Nevada attorney general’s office. That means there’s no July 14 deadline for releasing the commission’s findings, Moon said, and the clock won’t start ticking on a decision deadline until the public-comment meetings have concluded.

About 100 onlookers attended the June 14 video conference in the Grant Sawyer building. Roughly 30 attendees, including doctors, consumers and community activists, were scheduled to speak at the session.

Supporters said the merger would give Sierra Health members a national provider network and more product lines.

Detractors said the agreement would create a statewide health-insurance monopoly that would reduce competition and harm the quality of care the companies’ insureds receive.

Sierra Health insures about 670,000 Las Vegans, while UnitedHealth covers roughly 138,000 local residents.

The American Medical Association has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to block the deal, pointing out that the combined companies will control 78 percent of Nevada’s HMO market and 95 percent of Las Vegas’ HMO market.

Officials of UnitedHealth and Sierra Health have said the association is considering just one sector of the state’s insurance market. They note the combined entity would control 28 percent of the state’s commercial-insurance market, 18.9 percent of the state’s insurance market for employers with two to 50 workers and 36.1 percent of the state’s Medicare segment.