Amazon continues to hold its position as the top employer of Medicaid recipients in Nevada, a status it has maintained for several consecutive years. A recent report from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services reveals that approximately 7,500 Amazon employees were eligible for Nevada Medicaid during the state fiscal year 2023. Furthermore, these employees had 8,212 dependents who were also enrolled in the Medicaid program, resulting in a total coverage cost of $59 million.
Walmart and the Clark County School District secured the second and third positions on the list, respectively. This hierarchy has remained unchanged since 2020, according to information from Nevada Current. The top five companies with the highest number of employees on Nevada Medicaid also include Wynn Las Vegas, climbing two spots to fourth place, and Smith’s Food & Drug, dropping one spot to fifth. The State of Nevada, Aria Resort & Casino, Telus International (a call center operator), Resorts World, and Universal Protection Service (a private security company) claimed the sixth through tenth spots.
The Department of Health and Human Services discovered that, during the last fiscal year, Nevada Medicaid provided coverage for nearly 178,000 employees working at companies with 50 or more employees. Additionally, an extra 198,000 individuals, primarily children, were covered as dependents of these employees. The total cost of delivering healthcare to these approximately 376,500 Nevadans amounted to $1.45 billion in the last fiscal year. Of this total, the state bore $263 million, constituting 18%, while the federal government covered $1.19 billion, representing 82%.
DHHS noted a significant increase in Medicaid costs, rising by 20.8% from 2022 to 2023, and doubling since 2019. While the annual report mandated by lawmakers since 2017 does not include specific data on the total number of employees per company, unofficial figures are available from public statements made by the companies. Amazon, for instance, declared on its corporate website that it had generated 18,000 full- and part-time jobs in Nevada as of January 2023.
