FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, September 10, 2020
CONTACT: Liz Doherty
NEW POLL: 75% of North Carolinians Support Medicaid Expansion, Dan Forest Remains Opposed
RALEIGH — A new Care4Carolina poll found that 75% of North Carolinians support Medicaid expansion. Medicaid expansion is supported by the majority of North Carolinians, regardless of political party. Yet Republican legislative leaders and Dan Forest have opposed Medicaid expansion at every turn, leaving North Carolina as one of only twelve states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid.
In North Carolina, 64% of Republicans, 76% unaffiliated voters, and 83% of Democrats support closing the coverage gap. Local Republican leaders have also spoken up about the need to expand Medicaid in North Carolina. Both red and blue states, including Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma have expanded Medicaid. Even Mike Pence expanded Medicaid when he was governor of Indiana.
Right now, when people without health insurance seek care in the emergency room, it’s expensive and the cost is increasing insurance premiums for everyone else. Expanding Medicaid would extend coverage for over half a million North Carolinians, including those who have lost coverage due to job loss during the pandemic. Expansion would also create an estimated 40,000 jobs, boost the economy by $4 billion, and benefit rural hospitals, at no additional cost to the taxpayer.
Liz Doherty, spokesperson for Cooper for NC, said, “The pandemic has further demonstrated the need to expand Medicaid in North Carolina, particularly as additional folks have lost coverage due to job loss. Forest’s opposition to expansion is both unconscionable and unpopular.”
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