Public Option Bodes Ill for Nevada Taxpayers and Constitution

This year, one issue sure to be discussed among citizens and candidates across Nevada is affordable health care. But is a taxpayer-backed health insurance system that will bring higher costs really the solution to Nevada’s challenges?

The answer is no.

Nevada’s so-called “public option” will threaten patients’ access to care while exposing taxpayers to unneeded risk — and state legislators rushed into the idea so quickly that it might not even be legal.

In 2021, Nevada lawmakers pushed through Senate Bill 420 to create the public option despite warnings from health care leaders that it would hurt access and affordability and burden providers.

With the bill moving toward implementation, it is critical for Nevadans to understand that, in addition to the negative consequences SB420 will have for health coverage and care, it was also enacted in violation of the state constitution.

That is why we recently joined together to file a lawsuit challenging SB420. Our lawsuit, which asks the court to stop the implementation of SB420, because it violates three provisions of the Nevada Constitution: the requirement for a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the legislature to pass a bill that increases public revenue, the appropriations clause, and the separation of powers principle. 

While Nevada’s current administration has proposed moving ahead with SB420’s implementation via a market stabilization program, this approach does not change the fundamental problems with the bill and how it was enacted.

As federal regulators consider the state’s proposal to move ahead with this risky, unaffordable new health insurance system, we will continue pursuing our case in court.

Nevadans deserve access to high-quality, affordable health coverage and care — and they also deserve to have their constitutional rights upheld. SB420 fails on both fronts. Nevada can do better.

This opinion editorial is authored by Nevada State Senator Robin Titus (SD-17) and Pete Sepp, President of the National Taxpayers Union.