High-quality, affordable health care should be treated as a right, not a privilege, for everyone in America. Yet Republicans are waging war on our health care by seeking sweeping and devastating cuts to Medicaid that would drive up costs and take coverage away from millions of Americans, including many women and children in Nevada.
Throughout my adult career, I have been passionately involved in several initiatives aimed at improving the health of Nevada’s children. This includes serving on important committees such as the Nevada Maternal and Child Health Coalition Steering Committee and the Southern Nevada Maternal and Child Health Coalition, as well as contributing to efforts such as the Governors Association of Nevada to improve birth outcomes and carry and pass numerous policy initiatives during my time in the Nevada State Assembly. Through these experiences, I have personally witnessed the indispensable role that Medicaid plays in ensuring access to health care, and I am deeply concerned to see it under attack.
April is Medicaid Awareness Month, a month dedicated to helping us celebrate how this vital health care program has touched millions of families across the country. In Nevada, Medicaid is a critical source of health care and financial security, serving Nevadans of all backgrounds, including children, mothers, people of color, people with disabilities, working families, rural residents, and seniors. About 85 million people, including 374,633 in Nevada, receive care through Medicaid in every community in the state. Medicaid enrollment has increased 52 percent nationally since 2013, and the program has proven time and time again to save lives, keep rural hospitals open, expand access to needed care and help reduce health disparities.
However, this vital program remains under attack from Republicans. Last month, the Republican Study Committee proposed cutting Medicaid spending by trillions of dollars over the next decade. Republicans support efforts to radically restructure Medicaid and impose work reporting requirements designed to remove people from coverage. Since two-thirds of families on Medicaid include people who already work, and the vast majority of others are caregivers, students, or physically unable to work, this Republican bureaucracy is clearly trying to reduce Medicaid enrollment, not promote work .
Drastic Republican measures to cut funding and impose onerous paperwork requirements would strip coverage from tens of millions of children, seniors and people with disabilities. This means that millions of people will not be able to afford to go to the doctor when they need it, risking their lives and livelihoods or could force people to manage their health care needs through emergency rooms instead of seeing primary care physicians, which will lead to increased costs for all Nevadans.
When people have access to health insurance, they can get the care they need, there is less pressure on their finances, and they are likely to have better health outcomes. President Biden and Democrats in Congress have been advocates for lowering health care costs, helping more people get insured, and improving care for the American people. Since taking office, President Biden has defended Medicaid from GOP attacks, offered incentives to states to expand Medicaid, reduced the paperwork required to maintain Medicaid coverage, expanded coverage for postpartum women, and has lowered premiums for people buying insurance on their own, resulting in a record 21 million Americans enrolling.
Countless hard-working Americans who depend on this vital program could face losing their health care if Republicans get their way. Not only are they pushing to dismantle Medicaid as we currently know it, but they are also actively pursuing measures to dismantle reproductive health care, raise premiums, cut Medicare benefits, reverse recent advances in coverage, and increase prescription drug costs for the American population. . Instead, Nevada is taking proactive steps in the opposite direction. In 2023, I co-sponsored Senate Bill 232 with Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro to expand Medicaid coverage. As a result of our efforts, Nevada women now enjoy coverage for up to 12 months postpartum, a significant improvement over the previous two-month coverage period. This is the kind of leadership and policy initiatives needed in Washington, not the Republican attacks being proposed.
In the richest nation on earth, no one should have to risk their life because they can’t afford the care they need. Democrats want to build on the progress of the Affordable Care Act and the Inflation Reduction Act in making affordable health care for all a reality, while Republicans want to push back, campaigning on their threats to break coverage and impose barriers to coverage. The contrast between these two visions could not be clearer. We continue to fight to expand access to coverage, lower health care costs, and protect Medicaid for years to come.
Michelle Gorelow was first elected to the Nevada State Assembly in 2018 to represent the 35th Assembly District. Michelle has championed several Medicaid issues, including expanding Medicaid from 2 months to 12 months postpartum. Michelle has participated and participates in multiple initiatives to improve children’s health. in Nevada. Gorelow has served on the Steering Committee of the Nevada Maternal and Child Health Coalition since 2008 and served as co-chair from 2014 to 2018. Gorelow served on the Nevada Governors Association Improving Birth Outcomes from 2013 to 2016.
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