Originally published in The Sylva Herald on Feb. 21, 2019.
Western North Carolina residents rally for clean Medicaid expansion on Valentine’s Day. Photo by Natalie Ballard
The Jackson and Haywood county chapters of Down Home North Carolina gathered on Feb. 14 at the Jackson County Democratic Party Headquarters in Sylva to rally for clean Medicaid expansion for rural families in North Carolina.
Lorna Barnett, first vice chair for the JCDP, estimated 40-50 people turned out for the event.
Under the Affordable Care Act, many residents of North Carolina have been left in what is known as the “Medicaid gap,” when residents who are under the age of 65 earn too much money to qualify for the benefits of Medicaid but earn too little to afford insurance coverage.
Holding handmade signs decorated with hearts, residents urged passing drivers to encourage N.C. state Sen. Jim Davis, R-Macon, to vote with Democrats for Senate Bill 3, which calls for clean Medicaid expansion, and will close the Medicaid gap without work requirements.
Davis has been on record as saying he would vote to expand Medicaid only if it contains strict work requirements for able-bodied adult recipients.
Some at Thursday’s rally said such work requirements are unnecessary and come with more challenges.
“Because of high administrative costs to manage the program, there’s lots of red tape creating barriers for an already vulnerable population,” said Martha Stockwell-Goering, a mental health nurse who works with elderly patients. “The majority of people affected are already working.”
Stockwell-Goering said not expanding Medicaid has resulted in financial strain on local hospitals who must cover the cost of care when uninsured patients are unable to cover the cost themselves. Stockwell-Goering also said the failure to expand Medicaid has proven detrimental to combating the opioid crisis in the region.
“Not expanding Medicaid in 2016 left Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties with the following statistics: 72 opioid deaths, 269 opioid overdoses, more than 1300 jobs lost and more than $600 million lost in business activity. One in five Jackson County residents under the age of 65 is uninsured. Almost twice the state average,” she said.
In 2018, The New York Times reported that in Montgomery County, Ohio opioid related deaths dropped by more than 50 percent in the past year after the expansion of Medicaid gave low-income adults access to free addiction and mental health treatment.
“We’re really trying to preach the fact that expanding Medicaid would help alleviate some of the opioid issues as well as get people insurance and healthcare,” said Destri Leger, a speaker at the rally.
Down Home North Carolina organizer Chelsea White added that the group will be traveling to Raleigh on Feb. 26 to meet with representatives and ask them to vote in favor of clean Medicaid expansion.
