As the potential for federal health care cuts loom and new health care legislation makes its way through Carson City, a panel of experts said any cuts to Nevada’s Medicaid program would affect patients, providers and the state’s health system as a whole.
The IndyTalks health care panel on Tuesday in Las Vegas featured Nevada Medicaid Administrator Stacie Weeks, Nevada Hospital Association CEO and President Patrick Kelly and consultant Mike Willden, who previously headed the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
The wide-ranging conversation touched on the bureaucracy of the health care system, the causes of high health care costs, the state’s provider shortage and how possible Medicaid cuts at the federal level could threaten access for the 1 in 4 Nevadans — about 800,000 people — who rely on the program and potentially stymie the state’s efforts to address a need for more youth behavioral and mental health services.
Willden was one of the key figures behind former Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval’s decision to have Nevada participate in the expanded Medicaid program a decade ago through the Affordable Care Act. He said before the Medicaid expansion took place, Nevadans were only getting something like 80 cents back for each dollar sent to Washington.
After expansion, which opened coverage to a broad population of low-income adults who were previously ineligible and reduced the uninsured rate, that return increased to about $1.20, Willden said. If Medicaid expansion is cut, he said, the state’s share of health care expenses will quadruple, likely forcing the kinds of difficult decisions that he faced while leading the state health agency during the Great Recession.
“It’s horrible,” he said about making cuts at that time. “You get your team together, and you sit in a dark room for many hours, and you go down through and try to do what hurts the least.”
Kelly noted that cuts to Medicaid would likely lead to service elimination for hospitals and staffing challenges during a time when Nevada already lacks enough providers.
Though the discussion centered around struggles within Nevada’s health care landscape and the ramifications of possible cuts to Medicaid, Weeks said she’s optimistic about the future.
“In Nevada, we are at the bottom, unfortunately, in most outcomes, but we have the ability to move forward,” Weeks said. “Though we don’t have a lot of revenue, we make the most out of what we have … and where there’s a crisis, there’s an opportunity.”
