Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Hospital Association and nearly 10 other organizations rallied Monday in defense of Medicaid ahead of federal budget negotiations.
Jeremy Nordquist, a former state senator and president of the Nebraska Hospital Association, led the rally on the west side of the Nebraska State Capitol on Monday. It came after the U.S. House last month passed a budget blueprint directing the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, to reduce $880 billion in spending over the next 10 years.
“Medicaid is under threat, and that means Nebraska and Nebraska patients are under threat,” Nordquist said.
The resolution doesn’t mention “Medicaid” by name, but the caregivers and outside observers have said that with a budget goal that high, Medicaid spending would have to be reduced.
The Congressional Budget Office, in a March 5 letter replying to U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., and Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., essentially confirmed that there isn’t enough non-Medicaid or Medicare spending to reach the targeted amount of cuts.
Medicaid costs over the next 10 years, estimated at $8.2 trillion, would account for about 93% of all spending under the House committee’s jurisdiction, excluding Medicare, which it estimated would account for $8.8 trillion over the same span.
Monday’s rally sought to highlight the potential Medicaid cuts that Nordquist said would touch all Nebraskans, even those who have commercial health coverage and might think, “I’m fine.”
“The reality is, without Medicaid covering care for vulnerable citizens and low-income workers, very little of that care would be paid for, and therefore those services would no longer be sustainable in communities across our state,” Nordquist said.
Nebraska federal delegation
Nordquist and others asked Nebraska’s all-Republican congressional delegation — U.S. Reps. Mike Flood, Don Bacon and Adrian Smith and U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts — to be “leaders” and “stand up to the efforts to jeopardize health care in our rural state.”
“We know our delegation understands these issues and how vulnerable access to care is across Nebraska,” Nordquist said. “Now it’s time for them to use that knowledge and push back against these proposed cuts.”
Bacon has voiced some concerns about potential Medicaid cuts but said he was assured by GOP leadership “that the final bill will not affect the quality of healthcare covered by Medicaid.”
“They all said the final numbers will be more moderate,” Bacon said in a Feb. 25 statement after his vote for the resolution. “We’ll have a chance to vote on these two more times to get it right. Therefore, I am supporting the budget reconciliation because I want to secure the border, expand our energy production, improve our military and extend the tax cuts.”
National and local Democrats have targeted Republicans, including Bacon, for the vote and vowed to use it in the 2026 election cycle. Bacon has fended off challengers in each of his past four election cycles.
“Don Bacon can spread all the falsehoods he wants, but there is no escaping the fact that the House Republican budget will result in massive cuts to Medicaid and hurt millions of families. Another fact: Their terrible, unpopular budget will cost Bacon his seat next year,” Justin Chermol, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a recent statement.
Organizations join call to action
Among other organizations in attendance at the rally or supporting the call to action:
- Nebraska Medical Association.
- Nebraska Nurses Association.
- LeadingAge Nebraska.
- Health Center Association of Nebraska.
- Nebraska Association of Behavioral Health Organizations.
- Nebraska Rural Health Association.
- Nebraska Nurse Practitioners.
- Nebraska Pharmacists Association.
- Nebraska Home Care Association.
Dr. Robert Wergin, a family physician from Seward and president-elect of the Nebraska Medical Association, said physicians can’t “sit idly by” without making clear what is at stake.
“Cuts will hurt the entire health care system in Nebraska, and cuts will ultimately hurt all Nebraskans by decreasing access, increasing costs of health care and hurting our communities,” Wergin said.
Linda Hardy, a registered nurse for more than 48 years and president of the Nebraska Nurses Association, said 79 million Americans rely on Medicaid for health care. This includes preventive care for chronic diseases and prenatal or postpartum care.
Wergin said the “safety net” helps roughly 350,000 Nebraskans, including 180,000 children, and helps pay for care ranging from immunizations and dental care to speech and physical therapies.
Should Medicaid be cut, Wergin and others said it would lead to an elimination of services, exacerbating maternal health care deserts in Nebraska and would increase the burden on Nebraska’s already strained state budget. In a given year, Medicaid contributes $3 billion to the state economy, Wergin said.
Impact to services
Jed Hansen, executive director of the Nebraska Rural Health Association, said the cuts “aren’t just numbers on a budget sheet” and that in rural health care, it’s a “numbers game” where one cut could be the “final blow.”
Amy Behnke, chief executive officer of the Health Center Association of Nebraska, supporting seven community health centers, said Medicaid is integral to patient health and well-being.
Medicaid cuts would eat into services, Behnke said, leading to widespread reductions. Hansen said that when many services are eliminated they don’t come back.
“These cuts translate into real-life consequences: closed hospitals, shuttered clinics and rural families left without access to care that they need,” Hansen said.
‘Isn’t just about policy’
Roger Reamer, chief executive officer of Memorial Health Care System in Seward, and Tami Lewis-Ahrendt, chief operating officer of the Lincoln-based nonprofit CenterPointe, also spoke of Medicaid’s importance.
Lewis-Ahrendt said the state’s voter-approved Medicaid expansion in 2018 has helped the nonprofit provide critical care to 700 more people each month than in 2019. She said many Nebraskans were unable to access care before the expansion, with some delaying care until a crisis arose.
She said it’s not just “numbers on a report” but the “real people,” such as a mother accessing treatment for postpartum depression, a young adult getting support and medication for schizophrenia or an individual in recovery who finally has access to outpatient services.
“Access to Medicaid means more families can find hope in knowing that their loved ones are getting the care they desperately need,” Lewis-Ahrendt said.
Kierstin Reed, chief executive officer of LeadingAge Nebraska, said Medicaid cuts could be detrimental for nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home and community-based services and other post-acute programs.
Reed noted about half of Nebraskans enrolled in Medicaid live in rural communities that have been hit most by the state’s loss of 17% of nursing homes and 11% of assisted living facilities in recent years.
“Families will be forced to shoulder the burden of care for their older family members, which may lead to financial ruin for multiple generations,” Reed said.
Reed and Lewis-Ahrendt said Medicaid “isn’t just about policy.”
“It’s about giving Nebraskans the chance to heal, to thrive, to live in recovery and to contribute fully to our society,” Lewis-Ahrendt said. “That is something worth protecting.”