In their words: NC leaders react to Medicaid expansion deal

North Carolina is on the way to expanding Medicaid eligibility to more low-income residents — more than a decade after federal healthcare legislation first urged states to do so.

North Carolina House of Representatives Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, and Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, announced Thursday they'd finally reached a deal after years of disagreements over whether — and then how — the state should expand coverage.

Health care leaders, policy groups and politicians had strong words to share about the deal Thursday.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper: "An agreement by legislative leaders to expand Medicaid in North Carolina is a monumental step that will save lives and I commend the hard work that got us here. Since we all agree this is the right thing to do, we should make it effective now to make sure we leverage the money that will save our rural hospitals and invest in mental health. I look forward to reviewing the details of the bill."

Democratic U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, 2nd Congressional District of North Carolina: "North Carolinians have been waiting more than a decade for the health care they deserve. I’m grateful that Republican leadership has finally stepped up to the plate and reached an agreement on Medicaid expansion. North Carolinians are done waiting, and I hope lawmakers move quickly to see this long-overdue policy signed into law as soon as possible."

Abby Emanuelson, Executive Director of the Care4Carolina coalition: "The announcement today is a giant step toward making affordable healthcare accessible to hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians who are currently in the healthcare coverage gap, including working parents, small businesses and 14,000 of our veterans.Expanding Medicaid will improve the health of our people, our economy and our entire health care system."

Donald Bryson, President of the John Locke Foundation: "This course reversal on Medicaid expansion is hugely disappointing. For years, the fiscally conservative legislature has stuck to sound economic principles. Their assertions that expansion will end if it becomes fiscally untenable is a pipe dream. Expanding entitlements while cutting taxes is a recipe to turn North Carolina from the national tax reform model to the disappointment of Kansas’s fiscal failures.

"In addition, their failure to meaningfully address supply-side problems will only exacerbate the statewide healthcare shortage and drive up wait times and costs for the general public."

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services: "We applaud the efforts by the General Assembly to move this forward. Medicaid expansion will be transformative for access to health care in rural areas, for better mental health and for veterans, working adults and their families. For these people, today’s agreement is life changing."

East Carolina University Health CEO Dr. Michael Waldrum: "This is an important moment for rural health care in North Carolina... Medicaid expansion will provide coverage to more than 100,000 people in the East and HASP is vitally important to stabilize health care delivery in rural North Carolina. On behalf of ECU Health and the communities we are proud to serve, I extend my deepest gratitude to our elected leaders for this important development and we look forward to it becoming a reality. While this won’t solve all of the challenges we face in rural health care, this is a critical and necessary step."

Anderson Clayton, North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman: "Expanding Medicaid is the difference between being able to afford to go to the doctor and putting off life-saving care, between throwing our rural hospitals a financial lifeline and throwing away health care access for small towns across North Carolina. Thanks to Governor Cooper and Democrats’ relentless fight to make Medicaid expansion a reality, hundreds of thousands of working people across the Tar Heel State will finally be able to access the affordable care they deserve. Let’s get it done."

Lisa Lacasse, president of American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network: "On behalf of the cancer patients and the families we represent, we’re ecstatic to see today’s announcement by Senate and House leadership to bring affordable, accessible care for over 600,000 North Carolinians and we’re eager to see the full legislature come together in a bipartisan way for its passage. Soon, thousands of North Carolinians will finally have a fighting chance against the state’s leading cause of death with the health coverage they need to be able to receive an early screening or treat a cancer diagnosis and countless lives will be saved."

Dave Almeida, senior director of government affairs at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: "We know that Medicaid saves lives because we hear it from patients every single day. This bill will help give hundreds of thousands more North Carolinians the chance to live healthy lives. That’s enormously powerful."