Cooper urges Medicaid expansion to doctors’ group

Jun. 22--WILMINGTON -- Gov. Roy Cooper was back in Wilmington on Saturday, campaigning for Medicaid expansion.

Cooper spoke Saturday morning to a conference of radiation oncologists at the downtown Embassy Suites, discussing preparations for hurricanes and other disasters.

Most of the governor's remarks, however, were directed toward urging state legislators to accept federal funds to extend Medicaid coverage to more patients.

Cooper repeated his assertion that between 500,000 and 600,000 North Carolinians, many of them working, could benefit from the move.

These people fall in a coverage gap, Cooper said -- too well off to qualify for Medicaid but too poor to qualify for tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. As a result, many cannot afford private health insurance and do not get coverage from employers.

Republican leaders in the General Assembly have refused to consider Medicaid expansion as part of the current state budget negotiations.

"Since 2013, they have refused to accept $4 billion in federal money," Cooper said. "Those are taxpayer funds, that our taxpayers have paid, which are going to other states."

This, he argued, was a vital part of the budget process.

Cooper has been bringing his case for Medicaid expansion to the public. He was in Wilmington on Tuesday to address teachers and aides at a day center at Masonboro Baptist Church.

On Saturday, Cooper repeated his assertion that Medicaid expansion would bringing 30,000 to 40,000 new jobs to the state, mostly in the health care field. Based on the experience of other states, he predicted a 7 percent "positive effect" on private health insurance premiums.

The governor quoted a conversation with former Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, a Republican. In some Ohio cities, Kasich said, opioid-related deaths had dropped by as much as 50 percent as more patients were able to afford rehabilitation and treatment.

In speeches and social media posts, state Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger has questioned many of Cooper's assertions and claimed that expansion would make it much harder for current Medicaid patients to obtain care.

Reporter Ben Steelman can be reached at 910-343-2208 or Ben.Steelman@StarNewsOnline.com.

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