Patrick Fennell: A home-grown health care system that works

David Tayloe’s Aug. 15 Point of View “Senate Medicaid plan a disaster for the poor in N.C.” was refreshing in its clarity, well above the rhetoric and ideological underpinnings of the arguments that have swirled around this issue.

As a pediatrician working in Wake County more than 20 years, I have seen Community Care of North Carolina develop into an invaluable program that has helped improve both the quality and cost of caring for some of the poorest among us.

The Senate’s apparent fixation on opening the door to out-of-state managed care companies ignores the lack of success of that approach in other states.

Continuing support for CCNC and building on its successes as a home-grown system in our state are a more cost-effective approach and one that will also be more attuned to the moral imperative we have to care for the health care needs of all our residents.

This challenging and complex issue will not be helped by the Senate plan.

This story was originally published August 18, 2015 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Patrick Fennell: A home-grown health care system that works."