Public News Service: NV preps for higher health care costs in 2026

As the new year approaches, Nevadans are bracing for higher health care costs.

Republicans in Congress refused to extend expiring pandemic-era subsidies which made Affordable Care Act plans on Nevada Health Link less expensive. One analysis predicted premiums will rise by 34% in Nevada, or about $800 a year for people on Affordable Care Act plans who make about $130,000 a year for a family of four. The higher cost could lead many to drop their plans.

Daniel Corona, vice chair of the Nevada Democratic Party and former mayor of West Wendover, said an affordable plan on the Affordable Care Act saved his life when he needed emergency brain surgery in 2021.

"I started having symptoms in June of 2020. I put it off for seven months because I didn't have health insurance," Corona recounted. "Someone who will be in the same shoes that I was in, they're not going to be as lucky, and they're not going to survive."

Republicans in Congress allowed the subsidies to expire in order to fund other Trump administration priorities when they passed what was dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” last summer. It cut taxes for corporations and greatly increased the budget for immigration enforcement. The bill also made huge cuts to Medicaid, which, according to an analysis by congressional Democrats, will cause 115,000 Nevadans to lose health insurance in the coming years.

Corona pointed out a drop in Medicaid patients would be a major threat to remote health clinics like the one in West Wendover and could lead to the closure of rural hospitals in places like Lovelock and Battle Mountain.

"Both of those communities are very rural," Corona emphasized. "Folks who are already an hour away from health care services are now going to be in some places, six – maybe eight – hours away from the nearest hospital. People are going to die. It's life or death; it's not politics."

Gov. Joe Lombardo initially praised the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” citing perks like not taxing tip income for tipped workers. He has vetoed bills aimed at lowering the price of prescription drugs to the Medicare-negotiated rate, something the governor claimed would actually raise prices.