Gov. Cooper: NC hospitals should step up instead of holding up Medicaid expansion

It’s rare and positive in politics when elected leaders are willing to change their position on issues in the face of overwhelming facts. But that’s what Republican legislative leaders have done on Medicaid expansion.

After years of opposing it, Republicans now support it. That’s a big deal. And it’s real progress that they’re now saying what we’ve said for years: Medicaid expansion will help save rural hospitals, take pressure off businesses, increase mental health care, and provide insurance for hundreds of thousands of working North Carolinians at no cost to the state. It will save lives and livelihoods.

Of course, as usual, there’s a hitch.

Even though the legislature agrees it should be done, they still haven’t passed it. There’s even talk about waiting until next year, and that’s a wait we can’t afford.

North Carolina is losing $521 million a month — that’s right, more than $17 million a day — that our state would be getting from the federal government if we just say “yes” to Medicaid expansion like most of the other states have done.

Failure to expand means that more people will get sick and die every month. And it means more people will suffer under crushing medical debt.

So what’s the hold up? It’s a fight about allowing more competition for hospitals. Now I wish we could have that fight later and get Medicaid expansion done today, but the Senate leadership is insisting that government restraints on hospital competition should be reduced before Medicaid expansion takes place.

Hospital leaders know that no vote will come on Medicaid expansion this year unless they compromise on competition, but the powerful hospital lobby hasn’t yielded out of fear for their profits.

Our state has some of the most restrictive laws on hospital competition, so there is room to move.

North Carolina needs our hospital leaders to step up now and do what’s right for their patients and the health of our state. A negotiated deal by hospitals with the legislature in the next few weeks means we can expand Medicaid, save lives and draw down that desperately needed federal money.

Our hospitals have stepped up before when we needed them, and it’s time for them to step up now. Immediately and urgently. It’s time for our hospitals and the legislature to get this done for all of us.

North Carolina is one of the last states without Medicaid expansion and the journey to this moment has been a long one. Now is the time. Let’s stop losing dollars and lives.

This story was originally published August 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Gov. Cooper: NC hospitals should step up instead of holding up Medicaid expansion."