If a panel of elected officials in Nevada rejects a proposal to increase health care facility licensing fees today ? as it did in October ? some state healthcare facilities inspectors will lose their jobs and the health care facility inspections will be greatly reduced, state officials said. The proposed fee increases are exponential in some cases, which has caused sticker shock for the facilities. Their lobbyist argues that the state, not the businesses, should bear the financial weight of protecting the public. "This amounts to what somebody calls a 'sick tax,'" said Charles Perry, president/CEO of the Nevada Health Care Association, the lobbying group for long-term care facilities.
