UNLV School of Medicine students Micah Char, Brady Williams, Kaloyan Momchilov, and Christine Shen, along with Amy Stone, Ph.D., (all Medicine) presented a research poster titled, "Statewide Impacts of H.R. 1, 2025 (“The Big Beautiful Bill”) on Nevada’s Healthcare System: Modeling Consequences of Rural Hospital Closures" at the 2025 American Medical Association (AMA) Interim House of Delegates meeting.

The study modeled the statewide effects of reduced Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement on healthcare access and system capacity. Using demographic, EMS, and hospital utilization data, the authors simulated the redistribution of emergency and trauma patients from at-risk rural hospitals in California and Nevada to urban centers in Las Vegas and Reno, projecting substantial increases in emergency department utilization and more than $150 million annually in combined transport and uncompensated care costs. The findings highlight the cross-state and intrastate consequences of rural hospital closures and underscore the need for coordinated regional policy solutions to preserve healthcare access and system stability.