Yesterday The News & Observer published an op-ed by Governor Josh Stein warning that looming federal Medicaid cuts included in H.R. 1 will affect North Carolinians, health care providers, and communities across the state. He warns that every North Carolinian, covered by Medicaid or not, will bear the costs of people losing coverage, and he urges the federal government to reverse course and protect health care for North Carolina families.
For more information about new rules for NC Medicaid, visit NCDHHS’s Know What’s Next toolkit. These resources, available in English and Spanish, will help Medicaid recipients understand the changes coming to Medicaid and how they can keep their health care.
Read Governor Stein’s op-ed here.
Read excerpts from the op-ed below:
- Joanna is one of nearly 740,000 North Carolina adults who gained access to affordable health coverage through Medicaid expansion in recent years. Now, despite widespread support for NC Medicaid, their coverage is at risk. That is because in H.R. 1, Congress cut the Medicaid program by $1 trillion and loaded it with bureaucracy and paperwork.
- When more people are uninsured [...] their expensive bill does not disappear. Instead, we all pay. Hospitals cut services or staffing to cover the costs, or they pass on the costs to private insurance companies, and all of our premiums go up. Or hospital doors close, and all patients are left knocking.
- With families already struggling with the cost of living, North Carolina families and communities cannot afford the added costs that come when tens of thousands of people lose health coverage.
- Affordability is not a hoax or a political slogan. It is a real issue impacting people’s lives, and H.R. 1 is making it harder for families.
- Taking away health coverage and food assistance from families already struggling to make ends meet will not make life more affordable.
- Congress should reverse these cuts. We should be lowering costs for North Carolina families, not making their lives harder.
- Your ability to get the health care you need should not depend on the size of your bank account.