Healthcare advocate: Cooper should veto any budget that does not include Medicaid expansion

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Some recent news reports suggest that Governor Roy Cooper may be softening the long-standing opposition to any new state budget that does not allow North Carolina to close the state’s health coverage gap by joining 38 other states and expanding Medicaid under the terms of Affordable Care Act.

The Associated Press reported last night that:

North Carolina’s expanded budget negotiations will come to a head next week with Parliament and the Senate voting on a final spending plan, officials said Wednesday. Governor Roy Cooper has suggested he could sign it into law even if he would not get everything he wants, especially the Medicaid expansion.

A statement posted on Cooper’s Twitter handle on Wednesday said Republican leaders have informed him that the budget, which will be released early next week, will include a “number of governors’ priorities proposed in his budget and discussed. in the negotiations over the last few weeks, including increased education funding. ”

But that would omit the wholesale expansion of Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults that Cooper’s has been searching for since joining in 2017, according to the tweet. House Speaker Tim Moore had already said his caucus would not support expansion even if Berger was ready to accept it in the right situation.

The news does not go down well with proponents of Care4Carolina, one of the largest and most divided divisions fighting for Medicaid expansion. Today, the group’s CEO, Erica Palmer, issued the following statement:

“On behalf of hundreds of thousands of hard-working North Carolingians in our small towns, suburbs and cities, the Care4Carolina party coalition is deeply disappointed that the budget, apparently knocked out by legislators, does not close our state’s deadly health insurance gap – and we urge Guern Cooper will veto the bill.

We appreciate the Senate’s willingness to include the Medicaid expansion, but with our state struggling to emerge strong from the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government is making it more attractive than ever to close the gap, our coffers filled with a budget surplus of $ 7 billion, and support from red and blue counties, there is no reason for Congress to insist that North Carolina remain one of only 12 states refusing to support citizens’ health and productivity. Governor Cooper, please continue to fight for our citizens and reject this budget until it maintains faith in hard-working North Carolingians by closing the coverage gap. We know you want the best for the people of North Carolina, and closing the coverage gap is the best thing we can do for all of our people. “

After waiting so long for such a vital action, it’s hard to see how Cooper can abandon the case now unless he has achieved (or is achieving) a concrete commitment from legislators to approve expansion via another way in very close future. Stick around.