Fact-checking NC Gov. Roy Cooper on Medicaid expansion claim
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is locked in a court battle with Republican lawmakers over expanding Medicaid in North Carolina. But at the same time, both sides are also trying win popular support for their positions.
For Cooper, that means supporting expansion. For Republicans, it means opposing the plan.
One of Cooper’s main arguments is that North Carolina’s people and businesses are already paying for the expansion (which was created by the Affordable Care Act) even though they’re getting nothing from it.
PolitiFact North Carolina looked into that claim and ruled it Mostly True. Cooper is right, but he fails to mention one pretty big caveat: That although North Carolinians are indeed paying into the system, accepting the expansion here would trigger hundreds of millions more in costs for the state and its taxpayers.
Read the full fact-check for all the details.
Roy Cooper said North Carolinians are "already paying for" Medicaid expansion.
— PolitiFact NC (@PolitiFactNC) January 20, 2017
Yes, but there's a catch. Read more: https://t.co/gh8jQuogF7
Doran: 919-836-2858; Twitter: @PolitiFactNC
PolitiFact North Carolina
Speaker: Roy Cooper
Statement: Says North Carolinians are “already paying for” Medicaid expansion, even though the state hasn’t expanded Medicaid.
Ruling: He’s right, up to a point. North Carolina taxpayers are already paying for Medicaid expansion in other states. However, what he doesn’t mention is that the costs would increase by hundreds of millions of dollars if North Carolina accepted the expansion. For that reason, his claim earned a Mostly True.
This story was originally published January 21, 2017 at 7:46 AM with the headline "Fact-checking NC Gov. Roy Cooper on Medicaid expansion claim."