Author
Context is key for understanding Insurance Commissioner’s Affordable Care Act comments
Many people were surprised to see a story in the News & Observer today where Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin seems to be giving support to opponents of the Affordable Care Act. The article is about a letter that Goodwin sent to federal Health & Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell about problems in the North Carolina […]
Independents and Republicans in NC support closing the coverage gap
A new poll from the nonpartisan organization NC Child shows that a large majority of North Carolinians support closing the health insurance coverage gap that was created when the Governor and legislature declined to use available federal funds to expand Medicaid eligibility. This support extends to Independents and Republicans. The poll found that overall 72 percent […]
This Halloween we’ve had enough of ACA ghost stories and scare tactics
Action NC policy and public affairs director Kevin Rogers has an opinion piece in the News & Observer arguing that the ACA is here to stay, so we should get down to the business of improving the law and fully implementing it in North Carolina. Open enrollment, he reminds us, starts November 1. Our state […]
Voters in battleground states say the ACA is here to stay
The following is a press release from our friends at ActionNC about powerful polling that shows most voters in battleground states want to move on from the obsession with repealing health reform to a mature discussion of how to improve the law. After more than five years the Affordable Care Act is getting some age […]
Medicaid reform timeline highlights need for expansion
You should read our earlier post about Rep. Nelson Dollar’s excellent objections to Medicaid reform. Dollar deserves kudos for pointing out that our system is not broken. Despite these objections the legislature is charging ahead. If we want reform, however, the state needs to expand Medicaid at the same time. Why? Because to reform Medicaid […]
North Carolina’s uninsured rate falls, but gains are muted by failure to expand Medicaid
North Carolina’s uninsured rate fell in 2014 thanks to the implementation of federal health reform but data released today show our state is leaving many citizens behind by refusing to expand Medicaid. The Census Bureau today released the country’s official data on health insurance rates, which shows that 1.27 million North Carolinians lacked health insurance […]
New ads ask Gov. McCrory, “Where’s the plan to expand coverage?” (AUDIO)
The North Carolina Justice Center launched radio and digital ads this week urging people to ask Gov. Pat McCrory to release a plan that expands affordable health insurance in our state. We have the opportunity to tap federal funds to extend affordable insurance coverage to more than 500,000 people struggling to pay for care. Our […]
NC Senate’s Medicaid “reform” plan is not the answer
Legislators have set some laudable goals for reforming the state’s Medicaid system. Medicaid, as a reminder, is a health insurance program that primarily covers children, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and low-income seniors. Like all large organizations, especially those in the world of insurance, Medicaid in North Carolina could stand some modernizing. Policymakers say they […]
Medicaid reform bill will not deliver on quality or predictability
Last week the Senate released its latest version of Medicaid reform calling it a compromise measure with the House. There are some changes to the Senate’s original proposal. Under the amended plan a new Department of Medicaid is created but it remains within the Governor’s purview. It also allows for regional provider led entities to […]
Celebrating Medicare and Medicaid with a little help from our friends
Fifty years ago today President Lyndon B. Johnson created two of our most important safety net programs, Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare gave many seniors the health care access and financial security they lacked, and Medicaid gave many children a stable start in life. To help celebrate the occasion we decided to share several historical and […]
North Carolina’s health advocacy community has lost a friend
At task force or committee meetings there is sometimes a strategy guiding where you sit. If an important legislator is in the room, for example, people will try to sidle up next to him or her to influence the policymaker’s thinking. As stakeholders gathered at the North Carolina Institute of Medicine for a seemingly endless […]
With Obamacare affirmed, it’s time for a plan to cover 500,000 North Carolinians
[Editor’s note: In the aftermath of yesterday’s momentous U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case of King v. Burwell sustaining a key provision of the Affordable Care Act, the health insurance coverage currently enjoyed by more than six million Americans across 34 states is now secure. In North Carolina, more than 400,000 people receive much […]