Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo is running for reelection in November as changes to Medicaid rules take effect. Work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks for Medicaid are scheduled to take effect in January under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. A state Medicaid official told lawmakers in May that an estimated 70,000 Nevadans could lose their Medicaid coverage under the new rules.

President Trump has endorsed Lombardo, who became governor in 2022 after unseating Democratic incumbent Steve Sisolak. The Trump administration previously implemented Medicaid funding cuts, new work requirements and eligibility rules for Medicaid, and similar changes for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Many voters reported little or no confidence in the Trump administration's approach to the cost of living, according to a KFF poll. Liz Hamel, a senior vice president and the director of public opinion and survey research at KFF, said, "It seems like, if anything, the Trump administration's approach is not going to help Republicans in the midterms." She added, "It's not an overwhelming advantage." Hamel also said, "November is many months away. A lot of things could change."

Lombardo described healthcare as a complex issue. "I was really surprised by how complicated healthcare is, and how encompassing it is, and the cost of it," Lombardo said in a March interview with Jon Ralston. He also said, "Government seems to complicate some of those bigger processes more often than not, but in this case, they're instrumental in the success or failure of healthcare and how people suffer as a result of bad decisions."

Lombardo's campaign has noted his support for a children's hospital in Las Vegas. During his current term, Lombardo signed bills into law in 2023 prohibiting insurance companies from engaging in gender discrimination. He also signed legislation in 2023 requiring state correctional facilities to ensure greater protections for transgender and nonbinary people, including establishing standards for medical care and mental health treatment.

Aaron Ford, the Democratic state Attorney General of Nevada, is running against Lombardo in the gubernatorial election. Ford became Nevada's first Black attorney general in 2019. Ford said experiences from his past inform his perspective on public benefits. "It hits me differently," Ford said.

Ford's campaign plan includes proposals to lower prescription drug costs, cancel medical debt, and increase awareness of the state's public-option health plans, which launched this year. Earlier this year, Congress allowed enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire. Nevada's ACA health exchange saw a 5.5% decrease in enrollment this year, though a record 110,000 people signed up for 2025 coverage. Nevada's uninsurance rate was 11.4% in 2024, the fourth-highest in the nation.