Source: News & Observer
Expanding Medicaid in North Carolina will not only give much-needed health care coverage to over half a million residents, but it will also ensure failing rural hospitals stay open, create jobs, and make healthcare more affordable for everyone without raising taxes on anyone. Finally, Republican leaders in Raleigh are proposing we accept the billions of dollars in federal funding they’ve been passing up for a decade.
A bill just passed the NC Senate last week that would, among other things, expand Medicaid and potentially save more than 1,000 lives a year according to a recent News & Observer article. However, passing in the Senate is just one hurdle, now it must go to the NC House, and House Speaker Tim Moore is not having it.
Speaker Moore recently shared his disinclination to raise the bill in the House stating that it’s a “contentious issue” and he doesn’t “see an appetite for it right now.” His argument seems pretty weak when we look at all the benefits that come with expanded Medicaid.
As significant as it is that Medicaid Expansion has actually passed in the Senate, it means very little to the hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians who lack health care coverage. And it seems Representative Moore is still unwilling to lift a finger to help.
Too many working people are held back today by health problems they can’t afford to treat. After a decade in power, Republican lawmakers have failed to accomplish much beyond making healthcare more expensive for everyone.
