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Community health centers say Medicaid rollback would cut thousands from primary care access
Summary
The Nevada Primary Care Association told lawmakers that federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) rely heavily on Medicaid revenue and that elimination of the expansion population or other cuts would produce large revenue losses, close service capacity and increase emergency department visits.
Representatives of Nevada’s federally qualified health centers told the joint Health and Human Services committees that Medicaid reductions would sharply reduce revenue for safety-net primary care providers and force reductions in services.
Nancy Bowen, CEO of the Nevada Primary Care Association, said FQHCs serve about 117,000 unique patients across the state with roughly 39% of those patients on Medicaid (about 45,000 people). She said Medicaid provides roughly $56 million of FQHC revenue in 2023 and that elimination of expansion coverage for adults would represent the loss of roughly $56 million in a single year — about 25% of health centers’ patient revenue — and could reduce patient capacity by an estimated 29,000 visits (2023 baseline and modeling presented by association staff).
Bowen told legislators that an uninsured population returning to EDs and specialty care would erase primary-care cost savings and undermine work to manage chronic disease and preventive care. She said centers are already preparing contingency plans and that the sector operates with high fixed overhead and clinical labor costs, meaning revenue losses translate quickly into staff and service reductions.
Lawmakers asked for monthly and demographic breakouts; Bowen said the association would follow up with data requested by the committee.
Ending: FQHC leaders urged early state planning to preserve primary-care capacity and asked lawmakers to consider targeted mitigation if federal funding is reduced.
