In the past few months, health care workers, patients, and advocates have continuously called on Congress to protect Medicaid amid the Trump administration’s federal cuts.
“These proposals would take away people’s access to health care, destabilize rural hospitals and challenge the bipartisan progress we have made here in North Carolina,” North Carolina Governor Josh Stein told an audience at the 2025 Rural Summit back in March.
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.
“In rural areas, access to health care is already hard to come by,” stated Dr. Beverly Edwards, a pediatrician from Ahoskie, during a press conference last week. “There are fewer jobs that offer employee-sponsored health care than in some other areas. That means if people lose their health care through Medicaid, they don’t have any alternatives.”
According to an analysis by the Center for American Progress, about 34,200 more people would die annually if the federal government reduced its current 90 percent match for the expansion costs, resulting in states dropping their Medicaid expansions.
The impact of these cuts is particularly concerning for states like North Carolina, which expanded access to Medicaid in December 2023. North Carolina, much like other states, has the coverage tied to a “trigger law” that immediately discontinues expansion if the federal match falls below 90 percent.
If Republicans pass the federal budget with drastic cuts to Medicaid, the over 640,300 North Carolinians who gained health care coverage under the 2023 expansion could lose it overnight.
“I am worried for granny. I am worried for the dialysis patients. If those services are cut, they might die, they might not be able to get basic needs,” Carrol Olinger, the Fayetteville field director for Action NC, told the Fayetteville Observer. “If I can’t get my medicine, I die. I shouldn’t have to choose between my food or my medicine or my light bill. That’s not a choice.”
In March, more than 500 current and former health care professionals signed a letter addressed to the state’s congressional delegation underscoring the need to protect Medicaid expansion. The expanded coverage, they wrote, has given low-income North Carolinians access to “medical care, preventative screenings, dental work and affordable prescription drugs, all without fear of medical debt.”
The life-saving measure also ensures that elderly individuals receive long-term care, children have access to critical services, individuals with disabilities receive support and care, pregnant women obtain prenatal care, and low-wage workers stay healthy to support their families, according to the group’s letter.
“While Congress deliberates on these cuts, one thing is certain: if Medicaid is cut, not only will women and families bear the brunt of the consequences, but so will North Carolina,” three North Carolina OB/GYNs wrote in a recent editorial for NC Newsline. “It is not too late for us to collectively raise our voices in support of Medicaid and oppose these steep cuts. We urge our elected officials to push back against these proposed cuts.”
