NMA opposes proposed Medicaid cuts, citing harmful impacts to children, rural care, and state infrastructure
Congress is currently considering widescale Medicaid eligibility reforms and deep funding cuts as part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” As the voice for the nearly 3,000 physicians, residents, and medical students, the Nebraska Medical Association (NMA) strongly opposes such drastic cuts and the catastrophic impact they would have on Nebraska’s children, families, and others who rely on Medicaid coverage. The proposed cuts would strip health care services from thousands of Nebraskans, force health care facilities in rural areas to close, and squeeze out many of Nebraska’s health care providers.
Medicaid provides a safety net of health care coverage for roughly 350,000 Nebraskans, including 180,000 children. It ensures access to well-child visits, dental care, speech and physical therapies, and other treatments for our state’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens. Nebraska’s Medicaid program also provides $30 million per year to support school-based services to improve learning outcomes. We know that helping children grow up healthy means better education, better jobs, and a better life for all Nebraskans, not just Medicaid recipients. Providing the opportunity to live “the good life” requires caring for Nebraska’s children.
Medicaid also provides critical care to mothers and parents. It provides coverage for roughly 40% of all births nationally. In rural areas—like much of Nebraska—that number climbs to more than 50%. Medicaid provides critical coverage to ensure that moms and babies receive the care they need.
Additionally, Medicaid in Nebraska provides support to more than 21,000 seniors, helping them to live independently. It also supports more than 36,000 individuals with disabilities, assisting their caregivers, helping them find and maintain meaningful employment, and allowing them to live with minimal assistance. There is no doubt that these important supports provide critical assistance to Nebraskans.
Furthermore, all Nebraskans benefit from Medicaid, not just those enrolled in it. Medicaid ensures better access to health care for rural Nebraskans by supporting hospitals and clinics across the state. “Without Medicaid, access to obstetric care will be more limited, pediatric offices will close, and families across the state will have to travel farther to access care,” said David Ingvoldstad, MD, President of the Nebraska Medical Association.
The drastic cuts to Medicaid would also jeopardize our state budget and economy. Nebraska receives 69% of its total Medicaid funding from the federal government. Shifting that obligation—over $2.7 billion in 2023—to the state would overwhelm our state budget, forcing higher taxes and cuts to other priorities, such as education, law enforcement, and public infrastructure projects.
The NMA urges Nebraska’s congressional delegation to preserve the state’s health care infrastructure and protect patients’ access to care by rejecting pending Medicaid cuts that would undermine Nebraska’s health care safety net. This includes caps on supplemental payments, limits on provider taxes, and new restrictions on Medicaid eligibility, which would reduce enrollment and increase the number of uninsured Nebraskans. If enacted, these cuts would place profound financial pressure on safety-net providers, limiting their ability to care for the Medicaid population and harming the most vulnerable Nebraskans.
