September 24, 2019/Press

U.S. Census Bureau: N.C. Has Ninth Highest Uninsured Rate in the Nation

Raleigh ­– Earlier this month, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that North Carolina’s uninsured rate is the ninth highest in the nation, falling behind several other states that have not expanded Medicaid. More than 1 million North Carolinians – 10.7 percent – didn’t have health insurance for all of 2018. Still, Republicans refuse to expand Medicaid which would help 634,000 North Carolinians access affordable health insurance.

Medicaid expansion would benefit every single North Carolina county, create 40,000 jobs, and decrease the uninsured rate by roughly 3 percent. But instead of submitting a compromise budget proposal and having a good faith conversation about expanding Medicaid, Republicans chose to lie to their colleagues and hold an ambush veto override vote in “a shameless theft of democracy.” All to prevent more than half a million North Carolinians from accessing the care they deserve.

This is par for the course from Republicans who have called Medicaid expansion a “pet project,” and who told North Carolinians without health insurance to “get a job.”

Republicansrural hospital executivesearly childhood educators and childcare providersphysiciansbusiness leaders, and the majority of North Carolinians all agree that expanding Medicaid is the right thing to do for our stateBerger, Moore, and Republican leadership should stop playing politics with North Carolinians’ lives and get to work expanding access to affordable health insurance.