Nevada prison officials say a Carson City hospital's refusal to admit non-emergency inmates is increasing the state's health care costs.
Department of Corrections Director Greg Cox told lawmakers at an interim budget meeting Tuesday that Carson-Tahoe Regional Medical Center is declining to accept the majority of Medicaid-qualified inmates.
Cox said it's a problem because the department has already built a health care infrastructure around using the hospital. He said it costs the department money in overtime funds to move prisoners to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.
The Nevada Appeal reported in August that the hospital decided to stop accepting inmates because it receives less money from Medicaid than the state's previous inmate insurance plan.
Hospital officials didn't immediately respond Tuesday to the concerns raised at the budget meeting.
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