When journalists write about social issues such as North Carolina’s refusal to expand Medicaid to provide health insurance to about 500,000 residents, it’s easy for that number to seem abstract. Who are these folks who fall into the “Medicaid gap” created by the state’s failure to act? The answer is, they are our neighbors — folks like a single parent …

Working on the front lines of those struggling to afford health care, Lance Goller recognizes first-hand the pitfalls faced by those who fall in the Medicaid gap. About 500,000 low-income people in North Carolina do not qualify for Medicaid or the subsidies available through the Affordable Care Act, and that impact is being felt here in Henderson County. Read more …

How would the industry be doing if North Carolina had expanded Medicaid back in 2013? We may never know, but what we do know is that another half million, low-income people in the state would have health insurance right now. Read more here.

“During the first full year of the ACA, virtually every state saw a decrease in uninsured workers,” she said. “However, the rate of that decrease was substantially higher, nearly twice as great, in states that expanded Medicaid that year.” Read more at: http://chapelboro.com/news/health/nc-below-national-average-for-drop-in-uninsured-workers

Regarding the Jan. 27 news article “Report weighs benefit, cost of expanding Medicaid”: This report is a thorough and thoughtful economic analysis from the Health Law and Policy Program at Wake Forest University and is essential reading for everyone with an interest in Medicaid and health care in North Carolina. The report is based on numerous economic projections for Medicaid expansion, as …

Guest Column by Rob Thompson of NC Child University researchers at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health recently released a new study showing the profound benefits of expanding health coverage to uninsured, low-income adults in the health care coverage gap. The study compares the health of low-income adults in states that have expanded coverage and states that haven’t. The …

Senator Ralph HIse visited Brookdale Forest City on Friday afternoon to discuss senior citizen information with the residents. Senator Hise (R) has represented District 47, which encompasses six counties, for three terms. As current Co-Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee, Appropriations on Health and Human Services and Co-Chairman of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid and NC Health Choice, Senator …

Nonpartisan foundation reports and poll after poll have shown both the sanity in expanding Medicaid and the public’s support for it. Such a policy would potentially benefit half a million North Carolinians of all ages with no access to adequate health care. Under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion would bring in billions of federal dollars to North Carolina for …

Our state’s recent failure to expand Medicaid – to cover those who fall into the gap between the Affordable Care Act and our current Medicaid program – should be understood, in part, as a continuation of this shameful history of denying women health care as well as self-determination. Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article57319028.html#storylink=cpy

In December 2014, a first-of-its-kind, county-by-county study showed that by 2020, North Carolina’s workforce could grow by more than 43,000 jobs and the state’s economy could gain tens of billions of dollars in business revenue if the state expanded Medicaid eligibility. Read more at: http://www.greensboro.com/opinion/columns/susan-shumaker-and-allen-smart-n-c-can-close-medicaid/article_ce6c089a-252b-5b19-988b-ad1b720ba581.html