Opinion

Editorial: Speaker Moore's opposition to Medicaid expansion is prejudiced fantasy

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 -- To take N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore's word for it, people who can't afford health care are dodging work and looking for a free ride. He irresponsibly misrepresents who is eligible for Medicaid expansion. He is wrong as he embraces the prejudicial notion that poverty is a choice.

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CBC Editorial: Tuesday, June 25, 2019; Editorial #8435
The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company

North Carolina’s state House Speaker doesn’t want to expand Medicaid eligibility.

So what does Tim Moore of Cleveland County say to the more than 6,000 people in Cleveland county that would be eligible health care under a Medicaid expansion? (The 6,000 that need health care coverage and can’t afford it.)

Last week Moore said: “THE BEST THING THAT FOLKS CAN DO IS TO GET A JOB.” CLICK HERE to see and hear him say it.

To take Moore’s word for it, people who can’t afford health care are dodging work and looking for a free ride.

He irresponsibly misrepresents who is eligible for Medicaid expansion. He is wrong as he embraces the prejudicial notion that poverty is a choice.

First, the poor who earn below the poverty level and cannot or do not work ALREADY qualify for Medicaid.

Second, Nearly all of the North Carolinians who would qualify for Medicaid under expansion DO HAVE JOBS. Many work hard at more than one. It is just that the jobs are so low paying, these families barely earn above the poverty level. Still, they earn too much to qualify for the current program.

These are people live day-to-day at the edge of a financial cliff. These families are just one missed paycheck, or serious health event, away from economic calamity. They are Moore’s neighbors – more than 6,000 in Cleveland County. They are Senate leader Phil Berger’s neighbors too. There are 16,300 in the four counties he represents.

At a minimum, North Carolinians deserve an HONEST discussion with REAL FACTS, about expanding Medicaid.

Here’s two key facts Tim Moore and Phil Berger haven’t shared. Since 2015, North Carolina has lost out on:
  • $20 BILLION in federal Medicaid funding, and
  • $5.7 BILLION in hospital reimbursements.

No one needs to take a financial literacy class to know this kind of thinking doesn’t add up.

This, quite literally, is a life and death matter for half-a-million North Carolinians.

They deserve more than the reflexive prejudice against anything proposed by former President Barack Obama, ignorance of how a program really works and repetition of twisted data that legislative leaders have employed to block Medicaid expansion.

Stop the phony arguments. Expand Medicaid now.

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