Reno, NV – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) visited Northern Nevada HOPES Community Health Center, where she discussed with the center’s staff their concerns about Congressional Republicans’ plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act and how this would negatively impact their ability to provide affordable services to Northern Nevada’s women and families.
“HOPES has been essential to Nevadans who rely on their services and we must ensure that it continues to get the support it needs,” said Cortez Masto. “Unfortunately, community health centers like HOPES risk losing their funding and 400,000 Nevadans could lose their health coverage because Republicans are recklessly threatening to repeal the Affordable Care Act. We must work together to improve the ACA – not put the health and wellbeing of Nevadans at risk.”
“Community Health Centers – like HOPES – are a critical component of the health care safety net for medically underserved populations in Nevada, and throughout the nation,” said Sharon Chamberlain, CEO of HOPES. “We provide a continuum of care rather than episodes of care, that fosters better long-term health outcomes for the individual. Our integrated care model allows us to reduce patient visits to the emergency room, decrease reliance on public benefits, and improve quality of life for the men, women, and children we serve.”
Federally qualified health centers like Northern Nevada HOPES get an extra boost from federal funding and enhanced reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid thanks to the Affordable Care Act, which allow them to provide specialty services to Nevadans who rely on them for care. Nevada’s Medicaid expansion program has also helped significantly decrease the number of uninsured Nevadans, resulting in more revenue for HOPES and other health centers like it. Repealing the ACA would result in 7,500 HOPES patients losing their insurance and the facility losing $1.7 million in annual revenue.
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