Harris-backed policies helped this North Carolina grandmother get healthcare. Her new plans want to do even more.

Thousands of North Carolinians, like this grandmother, get affordable health care thanks to Medicaid expansion. If elected president, Harris’ policy priorities include capping prescription drug costs and addressing medical debt.

Lori Kelley of Harrisburg, N.C., a grandmother of six, was at her wit’s end after 16 years of trying to get affordable health care. 

But in the past year, she finally got help and the coverage she so desperately needed. 

“Today I stand in front of you having coverage, thanks to Medicaid expansion in North Carolina,” she said during a rally in Raleigh earlier this year. “I was really scared, because emergency care and the surgery that was necessary for me were not in the budget.”  

Kelley discovered that she qualified for a newly expanded Medicaid program funded through the Affordable Care Act (so called Obamacare), but the Republican-led legislature refused to approve Medicaid expansion for nearly a decade. 

That all changed with the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), passed by the Biden-Harris administration in 2021. The law provided a $1.7 billion “signing bonus” for Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, spurring the state legislature to finally expand Medicaid in 2023, extending coverage to an estimated 600,000 state residents aged 19-64.  

“I feel like I got the keys to the kingdom,” Kelley said, speaking at a Biden-Harris health care event in March. “I have peace of mind now. And I know that there are millions more like me with similar stories.”

ARPA funding is also being invested in Governor Roy Cooper’s $1 billion Behavioral Health Roadmap, which will fund mental and behavioral health for children, better care in rural areas, and training and retention of health care workers in underserved areas.

Help for North Carolina — with more potentially on the way

Another piece of Biden-Harris legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, is also expanding healthcare access and lowering costs for residents of the Tar Heel State. The law:

• Capped insulin costs at $35 per month for seniors on Medicare. 
• Made shingles, RSV, and other recommended vaccines free for 361,000 state residents enrolled in Medicare Part D.
• Will cap Medicare recipients out-of-pocket prescription drug costs at $2,000 per year starting in 2025, saving 663,000 seniors in North Carolina an average of $406 per year.
• Will lower costs for 315,000 NC seniors who take medications for heart failure, blood clots, diabetes and other ailments, thanks to a provision authorizing Medicare to negotiate prices for expensive drugs with pharmaceutical companies.

Now, as she runs for president, Harris wants to build off the successes of the Inflation Reduction Act by expanding the $35 monthly insulin cap and the $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket drug costs so that they apply to all Americans–not just seniors on Medicare. She’s also proposed accelerating Medicare’s drug negotiations and broadening the number of drugs eligible to be negotiated.

Relieving the burdens of medical debt

Harris has also called for eliminating medical debt for millions of Americans and finalizing a proposed federal rule that would ban unpaid medical bills from affecting patients’ credit scores. Barring medical bills from appearing on credit reports would help tens of millions of Americans who have medical debt by eliminating information that can depress their scores, and therefore make it more difficult for them to get a job, rent an apartment, or secure a car loan.

Her plan would build off recent successes in North Carolina, where Harris worked with Governor Roy Cooper to wipe out the medical debt of 2 million low- and middle-income North Carolinians—some $4 billion in total—by incentivizing hospitals to forgive patients’ existing debt and help them prevent its accumulation in the future.   

“Large medical bills from sickness or injury can cripple the finances of North Carolinians, particularly those who are already struggling,” Cooper said earlier this summer. “Freeing people from medical debt can be life changing for families, as well as boost the overall economic health of North Carolina.”

Find out if you qualify

To find health care coverage in North Carolina, and see if you qualify for subsidies and other benefits, please see: https://epass.nc.gov/