GOP mega-bill jeopardizes North Carolina’s hard won health care advances

A new report from researchers at the national Commonwealth Fund finds that North Carolina has made enormous strides in assuring that people receive the right health care at the right time and are able to avoid hospital stays and emergency room visits by receiving timely care.

The percentage of North Carolina adults who reported that there was a time in the previous year that they didn’t go to the doctor when they needed to because they couldn’t afford it dropped by almost half between 2013 and 2023.

The main reasons for the progress – enactment of the federal Affordable Care Act and other improvements to the Medicaid insurance program.

Unfortunately, the report also notes that much, if not all, of this progress is placed in jeopardy by the Republican mega-bill making its way through Congress that would slash Medicaid funding and enact new and bureaucratic work requirements.

The bottom line: Now is the time to build on past success in improving health care access, not backtrack. Senators Tills and Budd should oppose the proposed cuts.

For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.