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North Carolina about to become the 40th state to expand Medicaid [1]

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Date: 2023-03-03  

It will help save rural hospitals, or what’s left of them. North Carolina has lost nearly a dozen rural hospitals since 2006, closures which don’t just deprive residents of vital, local care, but also cause job losses in communities. The loss of those hospitals was halted in the last few years with an influx of federal dollars in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but saving the remaining facilities has been a key argument for expansion proponents.

The legislation hasn’t been drafted, but there’s agreement between House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger was reached as part of budget talks. It was driven in part by the federal changes in Medicaid, phasing out the continuous enrollment provision that’s been in effect throughout the pandemic. States were required to keep people enrolled with the federal government paying more for them.

That funding going away, and the potential loss of coverage for a big chunk of people helped drive the agreement. Even without the pandemic, North Carolina hospitals are providing about $1 billion in uncompensated care every year to uninsured people. Not only will most of that care be covered under Medicaid expansion, the state should see about 40,000 new jobs in health care created.

“This is our state finally investing in the health and well-being of the people of North Carolina, finally,” Dr. Robin Peace, the former president of medical at UNC Health Southeastern in Lumberton told WRAL. “[It’s been] frustrating,” Peace said. “It’s been frustrating because those of us that are in health care, we’ve known all along that Medicaid expansion would help everybody.”

“This funding will help the hospitals to provide that service,” Peace said. “There are hospitals in rural areas that are closing, that they are having to stop certain services because of lack of funding.”

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/3/2156075/-North-Carolina-about-to-become-the-40th-state-to-expand-Medicaid

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