Thursday, March 15, 2018 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
View more of the Sun's opinion section
Health care is expensive, and thanks to President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress, it’s about to cost Nevadans even more.
According to the Urban Institute, artificial inflation could push premiums to jump by 15.2 percent for tens of thousands of Nevadans in the individual insurance market this fall. Health care advocates repeatedly warned Trump about the devastating economic toll his plan would have on families, but he ignored them. Unfortunately, numbers don’t lie. The report shows the Republican plan will drive 57,000 Nevadans off real coverage, leaving them uninsured or underinsured — all while increasing federal spending by billions.
What’s behind this turmoil? After failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act last year, Trump and his Republican allies in Congress changed tactics. This year, the administration has put forward a new regulation or executive action to sabotage affordable health care almost every day. During Trump’s first year in office, 3.2 million Americans became uninsured. Trump has even bragged about wiping out the ACA “piece by piece.”
The latest Trump move is to allow short-term, low-coverage, high-cost insurance on the market. Nevada could go back to the days when insurers denied coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, providers could refuse care if people got sick, and essential medical services the ACA now requires to be covered could be eliminated from coverage. People could see basic care like hospitalization, prescription drugs, maternity care, and substance use and mental health treatment all become unaffordable even to those with insurance.
This proposal followed a barrage of Trump administration actions aimed at weakening Medicaid, which covers 630,000 people in Nevada — mostly seniors, children and people with disabilities. The administration’s new anti-Medicaid strategy is encouraging states to put excessive paperwork requirements between working people and their health care. A rumored next step — imposing time limits on Medicaid care — could mean those with long-term health conditions like opioid addiction get denied coverage when they need it most.
The Trump administration is mistaken if it thinks Nevadans won’t respond to these back-door attempts to repeal health care and dismantle Medicaid. After last year’s successful fight against Congressional repeal bills, health care advocates are united and stronger than ever. Nevadans will not stand for Republican attempts to make health care inaccessible and unaffordable.
Lawmakers like Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., should work to create policies that work for families. Every person should have the opportunity to access quality insurance and know a visit to the doctor is an affordable necessity, not a luxury. It’s time to stop the partisan war on our care.
Yvanna Cancela is a state senator representing District 10 in Las Vegas.
