State will pay hospital costs for Strip beating victim

CARSON CITY -- The state will pay the medical bills of a 49-year-old Las Vegas man who was hurt when two teens beat him up while he walked on the Strip in the summer.

The Board of Examiners voted Tuesday to reverse a Victims of Crime Program decision not to pay the hospital costs incurred by Myles Machado.

Gov. Brian Sandoval, chairman of the board, said Machado's bills should be paid, although he did not file on time a police report with the Victims of Crime program. Secretary of State Ross Miller, another board member, agreed.

The total bills incurred by Machado are not yet known.

Machado told police he was walking with friends on the sidewalk near Bally's on June 28 when two teenage boys shouted sexual slurs and punched him in the face.

He fell to the ground and suffered a forehead injury. The claim had been denied because Machado did not report the crime to police within five days as required by the Victims of Crime program.

Sandoval said that Machado has a history of mental illness and that his failure to comply with the requirement should have been waived.

The Victims of Crime program helps victims and families of violent crimes with health care, living expenses and even funeral expenses.

Funds come from fees collected by justices of the peace, court assessments, court fines and revenue from Department of Motor Vehicles civil penalties.

In the past fiscal year, the program approved 1,912 victims for aid who presented claims for $28 million.

After review and cost containment policies were applied, the victims received for $7.4 million for medical expenses. But every medical provider agreed that the medical payments from the program satisfied the victims' entire bills, saving them another $20.6 million.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.