KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasGov. Jim Gibbons Considers Opting Nevada Out of Medicaid
LAS VEGAS - Gov. Jim Gibbons is considering a plan that would drop Nevada out of the federal Medicaid program.
According to a spokesperson for the governor, the state would struggle to pay the program costs under the pending federal health care bill. The governor says opting out of Medicaid would save Nevada hundreds of millions of dollars. But, it's an idea that is sparking a lot of controversy.
Nearly a quarter of a million Nevadans depend on Medicaid, including Brenda Gibson. She has been on Medicaid for 15 years. "If I didn't have Medicaid to fall back on, who knows? I'd probably be dead," she said. Gibson says she suffers from kidney stones and chronic back pain and that keeping track of her health is a daily chore. She says she was shocked to learn about the governor's idea. "My first thought (was) what are we going to do? There (are) other ways to go besides just leaving people out in the cold," she said.
Rhea Gertken of Nevada Legal Services agrees. She believes dropping Medicaid may not be the best option. "For some people, it's a lifeline," Gertken said. "It's astounding really to think that we would do away with a really huge program on the hopes that the new health care bill would cover the same people."
But, the conservative think-tank Nevada Policy Research Institute believes otherwise. "The mandated expansion on Medicaid would impose a new unfunded mandate on Nevada," NPRI Fiscal Policy Analyst Geoffrey Lawrence said. Lawrence says depending on the details of a health care reform bill, the state could save serious money. Plus, he says people would still get the health care they need. "Individuals currently on Medicaid would be eligible for… federal subsidies. So, they could go out and buy their own personal insurance plan," he said.
Governor Gibbons' Communications Director Daniel Burns said if the state opts out of Medicaid, state money would be used to provide care for those who might otherwise be left behind, including the seriously ill and disabled.
