Healthcare
When my sister was young, she got diagnosed with a benign tumor under her kneecap. She had to have it surgically removed twice because it grew back after the first removal. My sister is also an athlete. She’s currently a D2 college softball player, but in high school she was a multi-sport athlete, placing 2nd at state in women’s wrestling. Overall, she was (and still is) a badass. This tumor took away her ability to play for a while and required physical therapy treatment for an even longer period of time. Despite it all, my sister made it through, and she continues to be a high-performing athlete.
When it comes to medical issues, there are things that are just unavoidable. Nobody could stop the physical pain my sister went through, the months on crutches, the years of physical therapy. However, there is one part of the story that was completely preventable: the 5-hr road trip to UCLA Medical center.
One of the most pressing obstacles to healthcare in Nevada is our doctor shortage. Something my family learned through my sister’s tumor journey was that the state of Nevada (or at least Southern Nevada) did not have a single pediatric orthopedic oncologist (A children’s bone cancer doctor) to perform her surgery. My father, mother, and sister had to pile into the family truck and make a 10-hr round trip journey just for my sister to have surgery! And they had to do it multiple times! While the Gledhills may have been able to make this work, this is an untenable situation for many Nevada families.
Healthcare is a human right. As a person who fought tirelessly to elect Bernie Sanders and his Medicare-for-All policy, I am committed to making sure every Nevadan has access to the healthcare they need.
Policy Priorities:
Authorize a study on a state-level universal healthcare system: We can take a page out of Oregon’s book. They passed a constitutional amendment to a right to healthcare, then created a Universal Healthcare Governance Board to create a plan over three years to formulate a transition to a universal system and present it to the legislature. I think, long term, this is a fight for Nevada as well. However, we can get the process started before even amending our constitution (which would likely take a minimum of four years if we started now–not including any additional amendments that would probably be needed to address Nevada’s tax code to fund a new healthcare system) by simply commissioning a study on what universal healthcare in Nevada could look like.
Address our Nurse Ratios: Nurses are often pushed to the extreme with their patient caseloads. This is both a disservice to the nurse, who is being overworked, and the patient, who is being underserved when nurses are too overloaded.
From the 83rd Legislative Session →SB 217: This bill, sponsored by Senator Nguyen, would establish a maximum patient-to-nurse ratio, among other staffing policies, for the purpose of workplace safety and better patient outcomes. This bill was passed but vetoed by Governor Lombardo.
Training the next generation of nurses and healthcare workers: I believe in universal, free public college. While I know that may sound unfeasible to some, there are already states making the transition. We wouldn’t even be the first state in the southwest! Detailed in other sections, I explain that I believe we should create a new funding apparatus through legalization of a state lottery. Then, we would expand the Nevada Promise scholarship program to create a truly universal and free community college system. From there, we can then assess how and when we can make that a reality for four-year programs.
The first bachelors program to be free, in my opinion, should be in nursing. College of Southern Nevada already offers a 4-year BSN degree, so we can extend the funding for those students for another two-years after their associates as a policy pilot program.
Protecting Patients from the financial stress of medical costs
Purchasing and erasing medical debt: Medical debt is often sold-off to collection agencies. Nevada should follow the lead of states like Arizona and local organizations like Somos Votantes to purchase this debt for pennies on the dollar and forgive it for thousands of Nevadans.
Setting Price regulations for essential drugs: Big Pharma actively profits off Americans who have no other option than to buy what they’re selling. When you need an inhaler to prevent a deadly asthma attack, you’re going to pay what you need to pay (at least until the price hikes finally win out). It’s time that our leaders fight back. We have laws that mandate drug price transparency, but we need to set real limitations to the continual price gouging Nevadans are facing.
From the 83rd Legislative Session →AB 259: This bill, sponsored by assembly member Considine, would adopt the prices negotiated by Medicare federally for everyone in the state, regardless of insurance. This bill passed but was vetoed by Governor Lombardo.
From the 83rd Legislative Session →AB 204: This bill, sponsored by assembly member Carter, would reform how medical debt is collected and reported. Notably, the bill would prevent medical debt from damaging your credit score, which would help Nevadans protect themselves from financial disaster as they navigate our problematic healthcare system. Governor Lombardo vetoed this bill, and it should be a priority to bring this bill back.
From the 83rd Legislative Session →AB 179: This bill, sponsored by assembly member La Rue Hatch, would expand paid leave by closing loopholes used by private employers to exempt themselves from providing paid leave. It would also set standards of employer retaliation for the purpose of banning these practices.
Protect Reproductive Healthcare and the Right to Bodily Autonomy:
From the 83rd Legislative Session →SB 217: This bill, sponsored by Senator Canizarro, would protect infertility treatment and fertility preservation treatment and mandate coverage. Governor Lombardo vetoed this bill, and it should be a priority to bring this bill back.
Address systemic disparities in healthcare outcomes:
From the 83rd Legislative Session →SB 192: This bill, sponsored by Senator Neal, was a broad attempt to address public health inequities. One notable part of this bill was that it would ban clinical algorithms that feed racial bias through underestimating health risks for patients of color (such as VBAC calculators). It would’ve required medical boards to adopt and revise their acceptable practices in medical decision-making, shifting away from race-based assumptions.
From the 83rd Legislative Session →SB 234: This bill, sponsored by Senator Doñate, would mandate Nevada Medicaid to cover certain emergency medical services for Nevadans who would otherwise be ineligible due to their immigration status.
From the 83rd Legislative Session →SB 307: This bill, sponsored by Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor, would require theOffice of Minority Health and Equity to analyze gaps in health services for minority groups and directs the Division of Public and Behavioral Health to submit reports on these health disparities.
