North Carolinians and medical professionals from Asheville to Fayetteville and Raleigh have expressed grave concerns over the impending cuts as Republicans are looking to roll back the government’s share of Medicaid expansion in their latest budget.
The press conference featured current and future health care professionals as well as community activists who have experience working with Medicaid, a program that provides affordable health care to over 2.6 million working-class, elderly, and disabled North Carolinians.
The bills touch on subjects such as reproductive rights, vaping on school grounds, the practice scope of nurses, and paid sick leave.
The lawsuit was filed in response to the US Department of Health and Human Services announcing it was immediately terminating $11 billion in health care funding across the country, including more than $230 million in funding for North Carolina.
Most people are unaware that newly proposed Medicaid spending cuts from national Republicans could automatically eliminate the coverage won by Medicaid expansion—without any action by our state legislature.
Last week, the Sierra Club released a report on the harmful impacts of a proposed pipeline project for numerous communities in North Carolina.
“What that means is the person nominated to run Medicare believes it’s acceptable not to contribute to Social Security and Medicare like nurses and firefighters do with every paycheck,” said Sen. Ron Wyden.
About 3 million North Carolina residents — one in four — receive health coverage through Medicaid, a figure that includes the more than 640,000 people who received coverage through the state’s Medicaid expansion program starting in Dec. 2023. Under state law, North Carolina’s Medicaid expansion program would end should federal funding for the program drop below 90%, cutting off access to the 640,000 North Carolinians who’ve gotten coverage under the expansion.
“Losing this support is devastating, not merely because of the financial setback, but because it directly affects an essential lifeline connecting agriculture, regional economic well-being, and the health of WNC families,” Claire Neal, CEO of MANNA FoodBank, told Asheville Citizen-Times.
“Protecting North Carolinians’ health care access is critically important,” said Stein. “I am proud of our state’s bipartisan work to expand Medicaid, and I call on that same bipartisan spirit in Congress to stand up and protect Medicaid so we can continue to provide critical care across our state.”