The NC General Assembly (NCGA) and then-Governor McCrory refused the initial ACA-sponsored Medicaid expansion in 2013 and later successfully sued to block Governor Cooper's attempts to expand coverage under a previously submitted state proposal to overhaul Medicaid. Roughly 1,390,000 North Carolinians don't have health insurance because they choose not to purchase individual or group insurance or can't afford it. Of those, about 400,000 are in the "insurance gap" because they don't qualify for Medicaid, Medicare, ACA subsidies, or group/employer insurance.
Carolina Cares, HB 662, is a proposed health insurance program for working, uninsured North Carolinians that may be considered by the NCGA as soon as the May short session. Learn more about this bill - and the myths about Medicaid recipients:
- Care4Carolina, brief summary of the impact of NOT bridging the health insurance gap in NC
- Carolina Cares, brief overview of HB 662
- Closing the Health Insurance Gap, slide presentation with good information about Medicaid, Medicaid recipients, the uninsured, and Carolina Cares
- Do states regret expanding Medicaid?, Brookings Institute study on the economic impact of expanding Medicaid in states that have done so.
Are you or people you know affected by the health insurance gap? Check out Care4Carolina, an advocacy organization. Let your NCGA legislators know what you think before the May session. Ask your NCGA candidates where they stand on this issue. VOTE accordingly.
