Expanding Medicaid for coronavirus patients only leaves too many still at risk in NC

Medicaid expansion

Regarding “NC legislature passes COVID-19 relief, without expanding jobless benefits or Medicaid,” (May 2):

The pandemic is exposing people and institutions who were barely getting by and now will fail with insufficient assistance. Rural hospitals in N.C. were already struggling and now another is filing for bankruptcy. Yet, the legislature continues to refuse the gift of Medicaid expansion which would alleviate health and economic issues every county if fully implemented.

The N.C. House and Senate’s temporary Medicaid expansion for coronavirus patients completely missed that full expansion would naturally help individuals and small businesses. More jobs and money in every county would economically benefit the whole state. On the other hand, hospital failures can devastate local economies.

The N.C. legislature refuses Medicaid expansion at our peril.

Gailya Paliga, Raleigh

President, N.C. National Organization for Women

Mail-in ballots

Some liberal Democratic groups have sued the state to make changes in absentee mail-in voting. (May 4). They want to end the requirement that mail-in ballots be signed by two witnesses. What’s to keep people from requesting a ballot for someone and then filling it out and mailing it in?

They also want to give people until nine days after the election to get ballots in. If this doesn’t open up an election to voter fraud, what does?

I hope the legislature doesn’t let this happen.

Hylton Lawrence, Dunn

The next stimulus

I’m a fast-food worker at Freddy’s. I take the bus to and from work — a risk I must take to keep my job.

If I got the virus, I’d be out of work for weeks without pay. My job has never had paid sick days or health care benefits. COVID-19 is amplifying the crisis of poverty and structural racism that low-wage workers have been dealing with for years. Black workers like me, and Latino workers, already had barriers to health care and safe working conditions because of policies that put profits above our lives.

Now, people of color are dying at higher rates from COVID-19 and many politicians and corporations are choosing to look away. We can’t look away. Congress must make sure all workers have paid sick days, all uninsured people have health care, and essential workers who interact with the public have PPE. Congress can make all of this part of the next relief bill

I call on Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis to prioritize the needs of essential workers. Stop bailing out big corporations and invest in public services that N.C. families need right now.

Jamila Allen, Durham

Food plant workers

When workers are classified as essential, the company that employs them must ensure their safety. Food processing plant employees work without masks, face shields, or physical barriers, which fosters the spread of coronavirus.

To secure our meat supply, we must improve worker safety. Plants should keep six feet between workers and provide PPE, plexiglass barriers and washing stations. Plants should also test and isolate infected workers. The costs of these measures must be borne by the companies.

President Trump issued an executive order for plants to re-open. CDC guidelines for worker safety are provided, but not required. We are asking that North Carolina lead the nation by insisting that worker health and safety come before profit — and that the lives of our workers be our state’s top priority.

Dr. Doyle Graham,

Tuesdays with Tillis member

The blame game

At this point in the raging pandemic with over 1 million Americans infected and nearly 70,000 deaths, I have a simple question: Why are we even playing the blame game regarding the origin of this virus? First, we need to have everyone tested and contacts traced. We need a safe vaccine and an effective treatment. In the middle of a raging war, is not the time to spend money and energy trying to determine who fired the first shot. Win the war first.

Margie Maddox, Cary

Rainy day fund

Regarding “McCrory’s foresight,” (May 3 Forum):

Reading this pat on the back for former Gov. Pat McCrory and Republican leaders led me to think about how they built those reserves. They did it with tax cuts we didn’t need. They limited the amount of unemployment insurance and reduced the duration of unemployment payments. To add insult to injury they refused to expand Medicaid.

So now we are spending that money on the same people who had the supports kicked out from under them. They are the people who sweep our streets, pick up our garbage, care for our aged, and check us out at the supermarket. Today everyone says “We are all in this together.” Where were “we” then?

Randolph Rodgers, Raleigh