Oscar Delgado

Special to the RGJ

Senate Republicans failed this week to pass their healthcare repeal bill after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found the bill would increase premiums by74 percent and strip healthcare coverage from22 million Americans, including 122,500 Nevadans. The experts agree that if this bill becomes law, people across Nevada will face skyrocketing healthcare costs and weaker coverage protections. We will have to pay more money for less care.

Republicans wrote their health care bill in secret to hide the damage it would do until the last possible minute, but now that the public has seen the bill, a mere 12 percent approve. That’s lower than the percent of Americans who approve of Vladimir Putin.

After a failed first attempt, Sen. Mitch McConnell is now spending his 4th of July recess twisting arms and working deals to get the 50 votes needed to save the bill and check a box that Republicans promised to check on day one of the Trump presidency. An administration source has blatantly admitted that Sen. McConnell plans to “bribe off” senators like Heller to get them on board.

But a few backroom deals or buy-offs will not fix this bill. It’s a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation that would have disastrous consequences for hundreds of thousands of Nevadans. There is no small fix that can replace the nearly $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid funding, which will severely harm our ability to fight the growing opioid epidemic, and will blow a hole in our state’s budget.

At its core, the Republicans’ health care repeal bill steals billions in Medicaid funding for the poor and gives it to the wealthy with massive tax breaks, and thevast majority of Americans oppose that core principle. A tweak in the language or a side deal for a stubborn senator will not change that.

I’ve been working on healthcare issues for several years, and know that this isn’t a Democratic problem or a Republican problem. The Truckee Meadows and the State of Nevada as a whole has suffered from high rates of uninsured populations, people dealing with mental illness, and lack of access to quality care. The Affordable Care Act helped with many of these issues, but there is still a long way to go.

Every day, I meet people or hear stories of people in our community who are still struggling with medical issues such as opioid addiction or high insurance rates. Gov. Brian Sandoval and our Democratic leaders in the state legislature have shown that true leaders can put aside partisan differences and work together to improve the quality of healthcare in our state.

As Sen. Heller said himself, “this bill that is currently in front of the United States Senate is not the answer.” He should close the door on repeal and the partisan reconciliation process, and instead work across the aisle to find bipartisan solutions that will improve healthcare for Americans.

Oscar Delgado is a Reno City Council member.