LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Being able to afford healthcare is a struggle for many Las Vegas locals. And as Congress debates Medicaid cuts, local families are on edge — especially those who rely on it for life-saving care.
I saw this firsthand with a local mother who fears what Medicaid cuts could mean for her daughter battling cancer.
VIDEO: Listen to a local mother talk about her concerns about potential cuts to Medicaid
"What is that like, when you're told your daughter has cancer?" I asked Kristy Burley-Evans.
"It's really blindsiding," she said. "I can still remember the moment of that phone call...everything kind of just stops. You go numb."
Kristy's daughter, Sadie, has been battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia for nearly two years. She's considered high-risk because of her age and the number of cancer cells found in her bone marrow.
"Sadie has spent about a year in the hospital, total," Kristy told me. "We've been home for a little over a month, but we're there so much. She's actually on hospice and palliative care, so she has nurses that come to the home to treat her."
For Sadie, Medicaid covers the majority of her treatment. But Kristy tells me there is much more financial burden that falls on her family.
"So Medicaid covers her treatment, but when I travel to Utah to see specialists, those are out-of-pocket costs," Kristy said. "We have to drive, because we don't have the luxury of having those specialty doctors here in Vegas."
Andrea Rapanos, a volunteer with the American Cancer Society, recently traveled to Washington, D.C. alongside 350 other advocates for the 15th annual Alliance of Childhood Cancer Action Days.
She tells me her mission is to secure funding for critical childhood cancer programs like the one Sadie is in.
"I, in particular, was focused on, just as a social worker in this field, [on] the preservation of Medicaid," Rapanos said.
I found out that, as of August 2023, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services reported more than 900,000 residents were enrolled in Medicaid. But proposed federal budget cuts are raising concerns.
Lawmakers are looking to reduce spending, and that could mean less funding for state Medicaid programs — potentially impacting thousands of Nevada families, like Sadie's, who rely on it for essential care.
"People don't realize one round of chemotherapy treatment can be upwards of $12,000 or more," Rapanos said. "And when you have a child who has to go to treatment five days a week — you do the math."
I asked Kristy about the financial uncertainty her family is facing.
"I'm terrified," Kristy told me. "But I try to just kind of hold everything together because I still have a whole family that relies on me for everything, and I don't want any of my children, my family, to see the worry."
"I don't think, honestly, until someone goes through what we're going through, they understand what it's truly like to walk this path," she said.
