In Case You Missed It, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) spent this week touring Nevada to raise the alarm about President Trump’s proposed cuts to Medicaid. She visited community health centers in Las Vegas and Reno to discuss the life-saving importance of Medicaid with providers and delivered an address to the Nevada State Legislature in Carson City about the impact that Medicaid cuts would have on Nevadans’ access to care.
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The Nevadan: Trump’s plan to gut Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for billionaires ‘would be devastating for Nevadans,’ senator warns
By Casey Harrison
Key Points:
- Nevada Democratic US Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto on Monday renewed a warning that a tax cut proposal endorsed by President Donald Trump would require lawmakers to reduce Medicaid funding by hundreds of billions over the next decade – a decision she said that would almost certainly impact health care coverage for hundreds of thousands of low-income Nevadans and their family members.
- “If President Trump moves ahead with his plan to cut Medicaid, it would be devastating for Nevada,” Cortez Masto said. “Our health care system would be strained beyond capacity … primary care for Nevadans would become unaffordable, and if these Nevadans can’t see their primary care providers on a regular basis, it’ll be harder to maintain their health and they’ll get sicker more often.”
- “This president is playing with Nevadans’ lives so that he can line the pockets of the ultra-wealthy,” Cortez Masto continued.
Las Vegas Weekly, Critical condition: Nevadans prepare for potentially devastating cuts to Medicaid
By Tyler Schneider
Key Points:
- On March 17, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., toured the Nevada Health Centers (NVHC) Martin Luther King Family Health Center in Las Vegas to speak with administrators and nurse practitioners about how the potential cuts could impact their system and the 40% of their patients who are enrolled in Medicaid.
- Cortez Masto reiterated that the cuts could be “devastating.” According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), 42% of enrolled Nevadans stand to lose their health care if they were implemented.
- “NVHC would have to look at restructuring their locations and their accessibility to patients,” Cortez Masto said. “Our health care system would be strained beyond capacity, primary care for Nevadans could become unaffordable and they’ll get sicker more often. Their only options then will be to go to urgent care or the emergency room, filling up beds and further stressing our care facilities.”
KSNV, Las Vegas (Broadcast)
Reporter: “As concern grows over possible cuts to Medicaid, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto says President Trump is putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of Nevadans at risk if he goes ahead with the cuts. At the MLK Family Health Center today, Senator Cortez Masto toured the mobile health care buses and other parts of this facility. She says these health centers need that federal funding to keep their doors open.”
Cortez Masto: “[…] I will tell you, President Trump said he cherishes Medicaid, but then the next day he supported Republican leadership’s cuts to Medicaid of 900, almost $900 billion. So, it is important we shine a light on not what he’s saying, but what he’s actually doing and how it impacts the State of Nevada.”
KVVU, Las Vegas (Broadcast)
Reporter: Cortez Masto touring the Nevada Health Center’s Martin Luther King Center, taking a look at how it fills the needs of a diverse community. There are centers like this all across the state, each one combines access to different health care services. That way, they can care for everyone from the very young to the very old. The senator says 40 percent of the clinics rely on Medicaid to help them for preventative care. She fears some of them could lose coverage.”
KRNV, Reno (Broadcast)
Reporter: “Each day, 500 Washoe County residents come through the Community Health Alliance’s doors for everything from pediatric visits to dental exams. Ten percent of the CHA’s funding for its six area locations and mobile units comes from Medicaid, but proposed budget cuts from the Trump administration would slash that financial support.”
Cortez Masto: “It’s going to be devastating, not just here in Nevada, across the country to so many people that rely on those Medicaid dollars that are put to good use in our communities.”
KOLO, Reno (Broadcast)
Reporter: “Senator Catherine Cortez Masto visiting Reno’s Community Health Alliance today to learn how proposed Medicaid cuts could impact local health services. She toured the facility and talked with doctors and administrators about challenges they may face. They say without Medicaid, people won’t have access to primary care and the effects will be felt across the county. […] Senator Cortez Masto is vocal about the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts, which could leave Nevada Medicaid with nearly two-billion-dollar deficit over the next two years.”
Cortez Masto: “In Washington right now, under the Trump administration, the Republicans in charge are looking to extend tax cuts for the very wealthy and they’re going to do it on the backs of services like this.”
KTVN, Reno (Broadcast)
Reporter: “Today, Senator Cortez Masto gave us a deeper insight on how proposed Medicaid cutbacks could put a financial hole in health care here in Northern Nevada.”
Cortez Masto: “Medicaid is essential for that type of access to health care, not just for our kids but for so many that are working hard that just need that, that help.”
Reporter: “Community Health Alliance provides full-service primary health care, family medicine, dental, low-cost prescriptions, and food pantries for families. […] Senator Cortez Masto says she will continue to fight for Medicaid health care access in our state.”
Las Vegas Sun, Cortez Masto rallies Nevada lawmakers to push back on GOP cuts to Medicaid
By Haajrah Gilani
Key Points:
- Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto spoke to state legislators with a clear focus tonight: Federal cuts championed by President Donald Trump’s administration and congressional Republicans would gut Nevada.
- “I will always work with any administration on policy that is good for our families, and I’ll work with them to identify real fraud and abuse wherever it exists,” Cortez Masto told lawmakers. “But I’ll tell you what, I will not agree to dismantling critical federal programs to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.”
- The U.S. House’s framework for enacting the president’s agenda calls for a committee that oversees Medicaid to find $880 billion in savings through 2034, raising Democrats’ concerns over major cuts to the program.
KOLO, Reno (Broadcast)
Reporter: “Back to the State Legislature as Senator Catherine Cortez Masto addressed state lawmakers, voicing her concerns over recent developments in Washington. The senator addressing the Trump administration’s efforts to cut government waste, fraud, and abuse, saying she is worried Medicaid could get caught in the crosshairs, putting the state legislature in a pinch.”
Cortez Masto: “We all know federal Medicaid cuts will hit Nevada hard. Medicaid is the largest part of our state budget. You all know that. Federal cuts are going to lead to this body being forced to either increase taxes or cut healthcare spending to make up for that loss.”
Reporter: “The White House has claimed federal cuts will not target Medicaid benefits, but Cortez Masto says in order to fund nearly a trillion dollars in budget cuts, Medicaid would have to be gutted.”
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