¶ Overview
In 2025, Lombardo supported Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which is estimated to kick 17 million Americans off their health insurance, including nearly 12 million Americans who rely on Medicaid. Under the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” more than 100,000 Nevadans could lose their health insurance, and Nevada community health centers could be downsized.
Lombardo said “Nevadans should be excited about” the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” despite previously expressing concerns about the “detrimental” cuts to Medicaid it would cause. 67,888 Medicaid recipients in Nevada were expected to lose their coverage by 2034 under the bill.
¶ Lombardo Supported Stripping Health Insurance Away From Millions Of Americans Who Relied On Medicaid
¶ Lombardo Said “Nevadans Should Be Excited About” Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” And Dismissed Concerns About Cuts To Medicaid
¶ Lombardo Said “Nevadans Should Be Excited About” The “One Big Beautiful Bill”
July 2025: Lombardo Dismissed Concerns About The “One Big Beautiful Bill” As “Bickering” “Talking Heads,” And Said “Nevadans Should Be Excited About The Potential Impacts” Of The Bill. According to Lombardo’s Twitter, “As beltway talking heads bicker over today’s budget bill, it’s important to remember that President Trump just delivered on his historic promise of No Tax on Tips or Overtime. That is a huge win for hardworking Nevadans! While my administration continues to assess this bill as it moves to get signed into law, Nevadans should be excited about the potential impacts of tax cuts, investments in small business and American manufacturing, and efforts to help secure our border.”
[Twitter, @JoeLombardoNV, 7/3/25]
¶ Lombardo Claimed The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Did Not Make “Any Cuts In The Short Term” To Nevada’s Medicaid Budget
August 2025: Lombardo Dismissed Concerns About Medicaid Cuts From The “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Claiming The Bill Did Not “Direct Any Cuts In The Short Term” To Nevada’s Medicaid Budget. According to News 3 Las Vegas, “Governor Joe Lombardo spoke on how the One Big Beautiful Bill is not affecting Nevada Medicaid at this time. ‘The bill doesn't direct any cuts in the short term,’ he said.” [News 3 Las Vegas, 8/4/25]
¶ Lombardo Previously Expressed Concerns About Medicaid Cuts In The “One Big Beautiful Bill” But Admitted He Did Not Have A Plan To Address Them
¶ Lombardo Previously Stated Medicaid Cuts In The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Would Be “Detrimental For Nevada”
February 2025: Lombardo Previously Expressed Concerns About Medicaid Cuts In The “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Noting That Rolling Back Medicaid Expansion, Imposing Per-Capita Limits, And Lowering Matching Funds Would Be “Detrimental For Nevada.” According to The Nevada Independent, “The request came in the form of a letter Wednesday, outlining the Republican governor's concerns about a variety of cuts to the program proposed in a budget resolution passed by congressional Republicans on Tuesday. The letter warned that the cuts could spell financial trouble for the Silver State. ‘Nevada has demonstrated that federal investment in the state’s Medicaid program has improved both health outcomes and productivity, yet challenges remain,’ Lombardo wrote. ‘By leveraging federal funding the state has expanded access to school health services, lowered the uninsured rate, and made significant progress in enhancing behavioral health care for both children and adults.’ He noted that as one of the fastest-growing states in the country, Medicaid gives Nevada flexibility to adjust to demographic changes and ‘limitations on Medicaid funding would clearly hinder that ability.’ Of the proposals being weighed for cuts, Lombardo highlighted the following issues as ‘most detrimental for Nevada’: rolling back expanded Medicaid for low-income residents, imposing a per-capita limit on how much the federal government will pay for Medicaid and lowering the matching funds for hospital provider fees, which Nevada intends to use for overhauling the state’s behavioral health care system for children.” [Nevada Independent, 2/26/25]
¶ Lombardo Admitted He Did Not Have A Contingency Plan For Potential Medicaid Cuts Under The Bill
February 2025: Lombardo Said He Did Not Have A Contingency Plan For Potential Medicaid Cuts, Which He Admitted Would Be A “Detriment” To Individuals And Providers, And Compared The Cuts To “Godzilla” And “Like The Pickle’s Too Big For The Jar.” According to Lombardo in an interview with IndyTalks, “HOST: One in four Nevadans is on Medicaid, Governor. People may not know that 800,000 or so that that's a huge portion of the budget. And there is talk, serious talk from Washington about cutting those funds. That would be devastating, wouldn't it? LOMBARDO: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, to put it in context, Medicaid exclusive of Medicare, my bill with that particular department is 450 million a month. 450 million a month. So imagine the detriment it would occur to individuals and providers. You know, there is a significant number of doctors slash providers that rely on Medicaid to keep their doors open. And so those emergency plans that we discussed earlier have to be in place. HOST: How can you have contingency planning for that much money? LOMBARDO: You can’t. It's almost like the pickle’s too big for the jar, right? And Godzilla, how do you plan for Godzilla?” [Joe Lombardo Interview – IndyTalks, 2/11/25] (VIDEO)
¶ At Least 17 Million Americans Would Lose Health Insurance Under The “One Big Beautiful Bill” And Put Rural Hospitals At Risk Of Closure
¶ At Least 17 Million Americans Would Lose Insurance Under Trump’s Tax Plan
HEADLINE: "At Least 17 Million Americans Would Lose Insurance Under Trump Plan" [Washington Post, 7/1/25]
HEADLINE: “By The Numbers: Harmful Republican Megabill Favors The Wealthy And Leaves Millions Of Working Families Behind” [Center On Budget And Policy Priorities, 8/1/25]
The Congressional Budget Office Estimated That 11.8 Million People Would Become Uninsured As A Result Of The Medicaid Cuts In Republicans’ Reconciliation Bill. According to the Washington Post, "The bill, which narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday and now heads back to the House, would effectively accomplish what Republicans have long failed to do: unwind many of the key components of the ACA, President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, which dramatically increased the number of Americans with access to health insurance. To start, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Senate version of the bill would result in 11.8 million more uninsured in 2034, mostly because of Medicaid cuts, compared with 10.9 million if the House version became law." [Washington Post, 7/1/25]
The Bill’s $50 Billion In Rural Hospital Relief Funding Would Not Come Close To The Gap Created By Medicaid Cuts, With 300 Rural Hospitals At “Immediate Risk” Of Closure. According to the Center For American Progress, “The OBBBA includes $50 billion in relief funding for rural hospitals over a five-year period to help reduce the disastrous impacts of the bill’s roughly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts. As of May 2025, there were approximately 2,086 rural hospitals receiving $12.2 billion a year in net revenue from Medicaid. At the median, rural hospitals’ revenue from Medicaid is $3.9 million a year. Rural hospitals have some of the lowest operating margins in the nation, especially compared with urban hospitals, meaning that any reductions in revenue could lead to closures. The average operating margin for rural hospitals was 3.1 percent in 2023, with 44 percent of rural hospitals operating with negative margins. As a result, more than 300 rural hospitals are currently at ‘immediate risk’ of closure, especially now that the OBBBA is projected to cut Medicaid spending by $1.02 trillion. The relief fund designed to blunt the negative impacts caused by the bill would not come close to filling that gap. If every rural hospital in the country received an even share of the $50 billion in relief support, it would amount to only $4.5 million every year for five years. At the close of those five years, that funding would disappear altogether.” [Center For American Progress, 7/3/25]
¶ Nevada Community Health Centers Said They Would Have To Downsize Under Medicaid Cuts
Nevada Community Health Centers Like Northern Nevada HOPES, Of Which 40 Percent Of Their Patients Were On Medicaid, Said They Would Have To Downsize Under The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Medicaid Cuts. According to News 3 Las Vegas, “The impacts will be felt most acutely, experts said, by community health centers, which serve significant numbers of patients on Medicaid. For example, Northern Nevada HOPES, which has 3 clinics in Reno, serves 22,000 people annually. 40% of their patients are on Medicaid, said CEO Sharon Chamberlain. ‘We will not be able to continue to operate the way that we do currently (if this bill passes). If those individuals lose Medicaid and end up on our sliding fee scale that's based on their income, we don't make enough to pay for the services that we offer. So we will definitely have to look at downsizing,’ she said.” [News 3 Las Vegas, 7/2/25]
¶ More Than 100,000 Nevadans Were Expected To Lose Health Care Coverage Under Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”
Under The “One Big Beautiful Bill,” 106,788 Nevadans Were Expected To Lose Their Health Care By 2034, Including 38,900 ACA Enrollees And 67,888 Medicaid Recipients. According to the Joint Economic Committee Minority,
| District | State | Est. # Losing ACA Coverage | Est. # Losing Medicaid Coverage | Est. Total # Losing Insurance |
| NV-01 | Nevada | 9,000 | 19,916 | 28,916 |
| NV-02 | Nevada | 9,400 | 13,218 | 22,618 |
| NV-03 | Nevada | 13,400 | 13,214 | 26,614 |
| NV-04 | Nevada | 7,100 | 21,540 | 28,640 |
| All | Totals | 38,900 | 67,888 | 106,788 |
[Joint Economic Committee Minority, 6/25]
- The House GOP Budget Bill Was Estimated To Increase The Uninsured Population By 8.6 Million By 2034. According to CNN, “The Medicaid and Affordable Care Act provisions in the package could result in 8.6 million more people being uninsured in 2034, according to an early CBO estimate released by Democratic lawmakers. That number is expected to grow with the latest changes.” [CNN, 5/28/25]
- The House GOP Budget Bill Codified A Trump Administration Proposal That Restricted Access To The Affordable Care Act. According to CNN, “The bill also calls for codifying a Trump administration proposal that would make changes to the Affordable Care Act enrollment process, including shortening the open enrollment period and eliminating the ability of low-income Americans to sign up year-round.” [CNN, 5/28/25]
- New York Times Reported The $880 Billion In Cuts Required By The Republican Budget Proposal Would Have To Come From Medicaid, Medicare, Or CHIP. According to the New York Times, "The budget resolution itself is silent on whether Congress cuts Medicaid, which provides health coverage to 72 million poor and disabled Americans. But it instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the program, to cut spending by $880 billion over the next decade. If the committee can’t save at least that much, the entire effort could be imperiled because of the special process Congress is using to avoid a Senate filibuster. Ten other committees have their own instructions to follow, though none have been assigned with cutting nearly as much. It’s not so simple as finding the cuts elsewhere. The special process, known as budget reconciliation, means Republicans will have to find all $880 billion from within the Energy and Commerce Committee’s jurisdiction. That leaves them with fewer options than one might think. […] If Republicans want to avoid major cuts to Medicaid, the largest pot of available money is in the other big government health insurance program: Medicare. […] Even if the committee cuts everything that’s not health care to $0, it will still be more than $600 billion short. The committee could also save around $200 billion by eliminating the Children’s Health Insurance Program, but that option has not been raised by the budget committee or anyone in House leadership. […] Even if all of these cuts, revenues and rule cancellations from outside health care can pass muster, the committee will still be left with hundreds of billions of dollars to cut to hit its goal. Mathematically, the budget committee’s instructions mean the committee would need to make major cuts to either Medicare, Medicaid or both." [New York Times, 2/25/25]