NC Must Expand Medicaid
Local and State elected Republicans in Transylvania County, NC11 and across the state have BLOCKED Medicaid Expansion since 2010.
North Carolina is one of only 11 states that has not expanded Medicaid coverage. Across our state, nearly 1 million people fall into a “coverage gap”. Transylvania County ranks 13th highest out of North Carolina’s 100 counties in the number of uninsured working-age adults. HOW ON EARTH IS THIS PRO-LIFE?
Our county commissioners claim that the highly touted Republican “Managed Care Plan” from Raleigh will solve the coverage gap, but this “plan” doesn’t take advantage of this federal funding, nor the Covid incentives. In fact, it’s still not clear if the plan, which was only launched in July, will actually cover many of those people currently falling into the coverage gap.
“No one denies these citizens often go without basic medical services, including preventive screening procedures. And no one denies this situation is both a personal hardship for citizens and a social and economic calamity for North Carolina” former chairman of the Transylvania County Board of Commissioners Mike Hawkins wrote. (Transylvania Times 7/21/2021)
With the Medicaid expansion that was rejected by McCall, Chappel, and Chapman, nearly 2000 people in Transylvania County currently in this “coverage gap” would have gained access to coverage.
Beyond providing better coverage to people in Transylvania County, expanding Medicaid would save the county thousands of dollars, and create jobs and revenue for the county. “Expansion-related reductions in inmate health costs alone would save Transylvania taxpayers $250,000 every year” according to Mike Hawkins.
The states that have refused to join despite the federal incentives have penalized their citizens out of political spite. Their dislike of the ACA has led them to ignore the positive health and economic benefits of Medicaid expansion. Those benefits have been confirmed by the experience in the 39 states that have adopted the expansion plan.
As many as 682,000 uninsured North Carolinians would access healthcare from Medicaid Expansion, and 48% of them are people of color. Without access to healthcare, many communities across the state will remain in healthcare limbo — delaying surgeries, rationing medication, and avoiding preventative care. As one of just twelve states without Medicaid expansion, we're all experiencing the consequences of that decision.
New research released by the National Bureau of Economic Research provides estimates of the life and death impact of Medicaid expansion. While many researchers have pointed to the improvements to health outcomes, management of health conditions, and quality of life that comes with access to affordable health care for those in need, this data provides new and compelling evidence that the decision to expand Medicaid has a profound affect on the life expectancy of adults living in the coverage gap.
By linking death records and data on program participation and health outcomes across all states, the authors of this new report estimate the impact of Medicaid expansion on the mortality rate of near-elderly adults. Their findings point to a 9.3 percent decline in annual mortality for this age group in those states with Medicaid expansion. The primary reason for the improvement in life expectancy is disease management while under the care of Medicaid.
In addition to this nationwide comparison, the researchers provide estimates of the number of excessive deaths in North Carolina due to the failure of Medicaid expansion. Three hundred and fifty people in North Carolina died because of the lack of affordable health care coverage. This represents the third highest number of excessive deaths for a state that hasn’t expanded Medicaid behind Texas and Florida.
