Why are lawmakers hostile to job creators?
To the editor:
The Review-Journal's Monday story on the mining tax deduction bill starts with, "Nevada mining companies will have fewer tax deductions and more government oversight " It seems that the all-knowing Nevada Legislature is intent on creating as many obstacles as possible for existing and potential businesses, the very businesses that create jobs and income for Silver State families.
Assemblywoman Lucy Flores, D-Las Vegas, states, "I'm all for making them pay more ... " If this imbecilic attitude persists, we may as well put a sign on the Nevada border that says: "Take your job-creating businesses to some other state."
Wouldn't it be beneficial for Nevada to broadcast our present favorable business atmosphere to job-creating companies, thereby enticing them to establish their operations here and use our workers? Instead, lawmakers apparently prefer to implement the failed policies of other states.
It seems to me a simple equation: more businesses + more workers = more state revenue. Or am I missing something, here?
Jim Andreas
Las Vegas
Autism mandate
To the editor:
If you are a family caring for a child with autism, you pay your insurance company thousands of dollars a year in premiums yet receive no benefits for your child in return. Such was the case for Nevada families until Jan. 1 of this year, when a new law took effect banning such discrimination by the insurance industry against children with autism.
In its Sunday examination of health care costs, ("Mandates, which govern protections, become issue in health care reform fight") the Review-Journal cited an unsubstantiated insurance company claim that autism coverage would increase premiums by 2.2 percent, or $100 per year. In Minnesota, the state's Blue Cross Blue Shield provider found that six years after it began extending autism benefits, the real-life impact on premiums was less than $10 a year. In South Carolina, which began offering autism benefits to state employees in 2009, the actual impact on 2010 premiums was 44 cents per member per month, roughly the cost of buying a couple of sterile bandages.
It is true that the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that "just less than 1 percent of the country grapples with an autism spectrum disorder." It is also true that estimate represents a significant increase from the CDC's prior estimate, and that the rise in autism is outpacing U.S. population growth.
Nevada is one of 26 states that have wisely banned insurance industry discrimination against children with autism, a step that will save the state's taxpayers millions of dollars in future health care costs by providing early intervention and treatment.
Peter Bell
New York
The writer is executive vice president of Autism Speaks.
