North Carolina set to become 40th state to expand Medicaid

CNN
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North Carolina is set to become the 40th state to expand Medicaid to low-income adults after the GOP-led state legislature dropped its long-standing opposition to the Obamacare provision.

The expansion bill, which also includes benefits to the state’s hospitals, received final legislative approval on Thursday. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who has fought to broaden Medicaid for years, said he will sign the bill soon.

“Medicaid expansion is a once-in-a-generation investment that will make all North Carolina families healthier, while strengthening our economy,” Cooper said in a statement.

Roughly 600,000 North Carolina residents may become eligible for Medicaid coverage. Some 15.2% of state residents between the ages of 19 and 64 were uninsured in 2021, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation review of Census Bureau data.

One of the largest states that has yet to expand, North Carolina is also the first state since 2018 to broaden Medicaid through the legislative process. Since 2017, voters have approved expansion at the ballot box in seven GOP-led states, most recently South Dakota last year.

The final vote in North Carolina’s House took place on the 13th anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which created Medicaid expansion.

Multiple factors prompted Republican state lawmakers to approve the measure this year, including an extra federal incentive to expand, the precarious financial condition of many rural hospitals, the increased certainty that Obamacare would not be repealed and the coming unwinding of a Covid-19 pandemic Medicaid provision that will result in millions losing coverage nationwide.

Also, the Covid-19 pandemic heightened awareness of the need for health insurance.

“The economic and the health benefits (of Medicaid expansion) are undeniable,” said Karen Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, noting that cancer is the leading cause of death in the state. “But I do believe that Covid played a role. There’s a recognition that people need health care that they can rely on.”

Those covered through Medicaid expansion are more likely to see doctors and get care for chronic conditions and less likely to screen positive for depression, said Sarah Lueck, vice president for health policy at the…