NC House GOP: Anti-Healthcare
After a Decade Of Obstruction, Some North Carolina Republicans Now Support Expanding Access to Affordable Health Care
Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger “if there’s a person in the state of North Carolina that has spoken out against Medicaid expansion more than I have, I’d like to meet that person.”
Last week, the North Carolina Senate finally passed a bill to expand Medicaid and provide more North Carolinians with access to affordable health care. For nearly a decade Republican Senators led by Phil Berger have blocked every effort to bring this vital care to our state. Berger even gloated this year saying “if there’s a person in the state of North Carolina that has spoken out against Medicaid expansion more than I have, I’d like to meet that person.”
"Legislative Republicans want a gold star for finally choosing to provide more than 500,000 North Carolinians with life-saving health care. Yet, for more than a decade their indifference has cost the lives and livelihoods of countless North Carolinians. We are delighted that Republicans eventually realized how critical access to affordable care is for the health and wealth of our state, but we refuse to celebrate them as champions on this issue” said NCDP Spokesperson Rachel Stein. “It’s also extremely disappointing that House Republicans are still signaling a refusal to pass this critical piece of legislation that will provide North Carolinians with the life-saving care they deserve.”
It was Republicans who passed the existing law that prevents Governor Cooper from expanding Medicaid to the hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians who lack health care coverage today. Democrats have been fighting to expand Medicaid in North Carolina since 2010.