Exciting news! Under the new American Rescue Plan that passed in Congress last week, North Carolina can now expand health care coverage for low-income adults AND bring an estimated $1.7 billion to our state. This couldn’t have come at a better time, as this has been a long and difficult year without much good news—especially when it comes to our health.
What’s happening? The North Carolina General Assembly has a new opportunity to deliver policy that would benefit all North Carolinians. The latest federal COVID relief bill included federal funding for states that haven’t yet expanded Medicaid coverage—including our state. This incentive covers the full cost of expanding health care to over half a million uninsured North Carolinians AND provides surplus funding for our state to provide other critical services.
There has never been a better deal (or a better time) to make sure that low-income adults in our state have access to the health insurance coverage that they need—especially considering that so many who are uninsured are also working on the frontlines of COVID. We just need our legislators to vote to accept the funding! That’s where you come in.
Can you take a moment to send your NC lawmakers a letter asking them to expand Medicaid?
Your voice is powerful, and making sure that your lawmakers know you support expanding health care coverage is especially important. Our state has had the option of expanding coverage since 2014, but too many lawmakers in our general assembly have opposed this policy change, in large part due to purely political reasons. Findings from 404 studies done since Medicaid expansion began nationwide show that expansion has an overwhelmingly positive effect on health care coverage, access to care, and the overall economic outcomes of the state.
In the middle of a pandemic, with overwhelming evidence that expansion would have a positive impact on the residents of our state, and this new additional funding on the table, North Carolina must seize this opportunity to expand health care coverage for low-income uninsured adults.
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