North Carolina’s uninsured rate fell in 2014 thanks to the implementation of federal health reform but data released today show our state is leaving many citizens behind by refusing to expand Medicaid.
The Census Bureau today released the country’s official data on health insurance rates, which shows that 1.27 million North Carolinians lacked health insurance in 2014 compared to 1.5 million uninsured North Carolinians in 2013. Expanding Medicaid would have resulted in a more dramatic drop in the uninsured rate.
We see that many of the states that expanded Medicaid such as West Virginia and Kentucky now have single-digit uninsured rates whereas North Carolina’s uninsured rate was 13 percent in 2014 compared to 15.6 percent in 2013. The Affordable Care Act is working, but it would work better if policymakers stopped blocking coverage for the working poor families who don’t earn enough to buy private insurance and don’t currently qualify for Medicaid.
A study by George Washington University released last year shows that expanding Medicaid in North Carolina would extend coverage to 500,000 more people while creating 43,000 jobs and attracting $21 billion in federal funding over five years.
Nationally, the Census data show that the uninsured rate dropped to 10.4 percent last year, down from 13.3 percent in 2013. These numbers reflect individuals who were uninsured throughout the year. The Affordable Care Act helped more than 8.8 million people gain health insurance coverage.
It’s not too late for North Carolina to catch up with the rest of the nation. The Governor could propose, and the legislature could adopt, a state-specific plan to close the coverage gap at any time.