In Case You Missed It, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) published an op-ed in the Las Vegas Sun highlighting the devastating impact of eliminating the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which 20,000 Nevadans rely on for health care coverage. In the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, not only were 100,000 Nevadans kicked off Medicaid, but the Republican majority also failed to extend these life-saving tax credits.
Las Vegas Sun: Republicans gutted Nevadans’ health care. There’s a way to avoid making it worse.
By Senator Catherine Cortez Masto
It has always been my mission in the Senate to protect and expand Nevadans’ access to health care. With everything from the cost of groceries to the cost of a cup of coffee on the rise, Nevada families should never have to choose between getting the treatment and medication they need and putting food on the table.
Unfortunately, with the passage of President Donald Trump’s and congressional Republicans’ billionaire tax giveaway bill, tens of thousands of Nevadans are going to lose access to their health insurance. Republicans gutted nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and added $4 trillion to our national deficit so they could make the wealthiest Americans even wealthier. They passed this legislation despite bipartisan opposition.
This Republican tax law will kick up to 120,000 Nevadans off their health insurance. 100,000 of those Nevadans will lose their access to Medicaid. That alone is outrageous.
But something that’s being talked about less frequently is the fact that another 20,000 Nevadans will lose their affordable health coverage if Republicans continue to refuse to work with Democrats to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
Here’s how.
The Affordable Care Act provides tax credits for low-income Nevadans to make their health care premiums cheaper and help them afford their insurance.
Under the previous administration, Congress passed bipartisan laws making those tax credits available to even more people. This has given families across our state room to breathe without the threat of medical debt hanging over their heads. But now, that relief for hardworking Nevadans is set to expire at the end of this year.
My Democratic colleagues and I have been trying to work with the Republican Senate majority to extend these tax breaks all year. I spoke about this exact issue on the floor of the Senate back in February. But, Republicans have made it clear they’d rather plow ahead with Trump’s agenda of cutting vital grant funding, supporting erratic tariffs on our allies that are hurting our small businesses and gutting food assistance.
Let me put it this way: Instead of working across the aisle to pass tax breaks that will help working Nevadans afford their health care, Republicans chose to pass legislation giving tax breaks to President Trump’s wealthy friends.
If we don’t extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, it would be devastating for Nevada families, workers and small businesses. Nevadans who benefited from these tax credits would see their health care premiums go up by $2,000 a year on average. Some 250,606 small businesses and self-employed workers in Nevada who qualified for these tax credits will see their premiums increase.
The effects of this will reach beyond those specific Nevadans. When people can’t afford their health care, they stop going to the doctor regularly. When they do get sick, they wait until it becomes urgent and they have to go to the emergency room. Emergency rooms have to treat patients regardless of whether they can afford to pay, and if more patients can’t pay, the hospital has to shoulder that cost. The strain this would have on hospitals could force them to shut down critical services or close their doors. Southern Nevada’s medical system would be overwhelmed, health care costs would go up for everyone in the region, and anyone who is sick would have a harder time being seen by a health care provider.
These are the consequences we face if we don’t extend these tax credits under the Affordable Care Act.
My Republican colleagues in the majority now have a decision to make. Instead of letting these tax credits for working families and small businesses expire and throwing thousands of lives into chaos, they could help us renew them.
Republicans have already passed their bill to end Medicaid coverage for 100,000 Nevadans, but they can soften the blow by restoring relief to 20,000 Nevadans who are now at risk of losing their health insurance under the ACA.
Prioritizing health care for hardworking families should not be a partisan issue. That’s what members of Congress were elected to do, and it’s what the people of Nevada expect of us. I’ll work with anyone to make life easier for Nevadans, and I hope my Republican colleagues can join me to solve this problem.
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