Congressional Republicans Threaten Healthcare Coverage For More Than 650,000 North Carolinians

The North Carolina Democratic Party issued the following statement after the Senate approved Donald Trump’s reconciliation bill. As it stands, this bill would rip away care from 651,982 North Carolinians, a larger population than that of Guilford County.

“There’s nothing beautiful about this bill. As it stands, more than 650,000 North Carolinians would lose the Medicaid coverage they rely on because Donald Trump and Senate Republicans want to cut taxes for the richest Americans and largest corporations. If the House concurs, children won’t be able to go speech therapy, expectant families will miss prenatal appointments, seniors are going to be kicked out of nursing homes, and every North Carolinian will have to pay more for their health insurance because of this bill. The time is now, this transcends political ideology – it’s up to people across our state to call their members of Congress and demand they oppose these cuts to Medicaid,” said NCDP Chair Anderson Clayton. 

Republicans are putting North Carolinians health care, food assistance, and jobs on the chopping block…

• Republicans cut over $1 trillion from Medicaid — the largest cut to Medicaid in American history  
• The GOP budget rips away health care from 651,982 North Carolinians. 
• With drastic cuts to the Medicaid expansion program, Republicans are also put coverage for more than 660,000 working North Carolinians on the chopping block
• Rural hospitals are at risk of closing — ripping away access to critical emergency medical care for millions of Americans
• At least 1 in 4 nursing homes will have to close their doors, and over half of nursing homes will be forced to cut staff
• Hundreds of thousands are at risk of losing food assistance, forcing working families, seniors, and children to go hungry
• Unions are warning this is the “biggest job-killing bill in the history of the country”
• If this bill is signed into law, it will threaten 1.75 million construction jobs and 2 million clean energy jobs

… all to fund another round of tax handouts for their billionaire donors. 

• This bill is nothing short of a direct transfer of wealth from the poorest Americans to the wealthiest
• This budget is the most regressive budget in 40 years — and possibly ever
• The poorest 20% of Americans will lose 3.8% of their income while the richest 20% will see their incomes increase by 3.7%
• This bill cuts $1.3 trillion in food assistance and health coverage while giving the wealthy that exact amount in tax breaks

It wasn’t enough for Republicans to rip away health care, food assistance, and jobs — they also voted to make North Carolinian lives more expensive and dangerous. This budget also: 

• Adds $3.25 trillion to the national debt, while revenues fall by $4.47 trillion
• Increases energy bills by 18% for North Carolinians.
• Endangers our communities by making it easier to buy dangerous firearms and silencers