NC Medicaid recipients say Republicans’ proposed cuts will ‘doom’ them to ‘early deaths’

House Republicans’ budget proposal could cut over $800 billion from Medicaid, which would have devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians, who could lose access to essential healthcare and medications.

Medicaid is more than just health insurance for Travis Archie. 

It’s the difference between being healthy enough to watch his 14-year-old daughter grow up and potentially suffering a fatal heart attack because he can’t afford health care. 

Archie, a Statesville resident, was uninsured for nearly 15 years before he became eligible for Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income adults, people with disabilities, pregnant women, and children. Prior to that, he couldn’t get adequate treatment for his high blood pressure, due to the exorbitant cost of healthcare and prescription drugs. But after he and his daughter both enrolled in Medicaid in 2014, Archie said his health improved.

“I was able to see my cardiologist on time. I was able to see my therapist on time, and it’s been really helpful. It really has,” he said. “My heart has gotten a lot better.”

But Archie worries about what his future will look like if the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress proceed with a budget proposal that could ultimately take a sledgehammer to Medicaid. 

The Republican-controlled House passed a budget resolution last month which calls for a total of $2 trillion in spending cuts, and allows for upwards of $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, primarily geared towards corporations and the wealthiest Americans. To fund those tax cuts, the resolution directs the Energy and Commerce Committee to cut over $880 billion over a 10-year period, a quantity so significant that it can only come from severely slashing Medicaid spending. 

While President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he will protect Medicaid from cuts, he also endorsed the House budget resolution and pressured Republican lawmakers to pass it. That resolution is now with the Republican-controlled Senate, which is negotiating with the House on a revised version of the legislation. If that budget passes into law and retains the provisions targeting Medicaid, it could take away health coverage from tens of millions of Americans, including hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians. At minimum, such steep cuts could make the quality of the care people like Archie receive significantly worse. 

That possibility worries Archie, given his ongoing medical issues over the past decade. His history of high blood pressure led to atrial fibrillation (AFib), which causes an irregular heartbeat and can lead to chest pain and dizziness. He’s also been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), a serious condition that prevents the heart from pumping enough blood. Archie takes medication for his conditions, but isn’t sure what would happen to him if he lost the insurance that covers those medications. 

“My daughter plays softball now. I can only imagine cheering for her and then having a heart attack because I can’t afford my medicine,” he said. 

Archie expressed disgust that politicians in Washington could vote to potentially strip health coverage from millions of their own constituents. 

“I really want them to sit there and look themselves in the mirror, ‘what if we pass this bill? How is that going to affect the rest of my people that I swore I was going to protect?’”

@cardinalandpine

If Republicans in Congress pass their budget that would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid, it’ll hit the nearly 3 million North Carolinians enrolled in the program. Iredell County resident Travis Archie asked lawmakers to look themselves in the mirror before potentially taking healthcare away from those who need it most. “It’s not about a handout. It’s about getting us to the next level.” Archie, who takes medication for a heart condition, worries about the impact losing access to medication would have on his health. “My daughter plays softball now, so I can only imagine cheering for her, and then having a heart attack because I can’t afford my medicine,” he said.

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Communities across NC will feel impact of cuts

Dr. Laura Ucik practices family medicine in Vance County, where around 16% of residents are enrolled in Medicaid. She says Republicans’ proposed cuts could have a devastating impact on patients in rural communities like hers.

“I remember all too clearly the days before Medicaid expansion in North Carolina,” Ucik said. “I work at a rural federally qualified health center in a very low-income county, and before Medicaid expansion, 60-70% of the patients at our office did not have health insurance.” 

But it’s not only rural communities that stand to be harmed by the proposed cuts. About 3 million North Carolina residents — one in four —  receive health coverage through Medicaid, a figure that includes the more than 640,000 people who received coverage through the state’s Medicaid expansion program starting in Dec. 2023.

If the cuts to Medicaid become reality, Ucik says she worries about the fate of the state’s expansion program and those who receive coverage because of it.

“I don’t sleep well at night because of this. I think it’s a huge concern. We do have trigger type laws in our expansion bill,” she said.

Under state law, North Carolina’s Medicaid expansion program would end should federal funding for the program drop below 90%, cutting off access to the 640,000 North Carolinians who’ve gotten coverage under the expansion. 

Wilkes County resident ReVonda Crow is among those who got coverage through the expansion, enrolling in May 2024. Before that, she had never had health insurance in her life. She says having insurance has provided peace of mind.

“It literally took me out of fear mode,” she said. 

About a decade ago, Crow suffered blood clots in her right leg. While the local hospitals were able to treat her, she said, the doctor told her the medications she needed would cost around $600 per month, something she could not afford. While she was able to get a one-month supply of the medication through a pharmacy voucher program, and later through a local clinic, she was always afraid of losing access to her medication because she lacked insurance. 

Crow no longer needs the blood clot medication, but says it’s a relief to not worry about being able to access care if a medical issue arises.

“There’s a freedom. I can’t begin to tell you the feeling of ‘it’s okay if I have a medical issue now,’” she said.

If Medicaid expansion goes away, Crow will lose that coverage. 

Kate Daley, the Health Justice Coordinator with Down Home North Carolina, says the group will call on the North Carolina General Assembly to provide funding to keep Medicaid expansion alive should the federal government’s commitment fall below 90%. 

“If these cuts take place, we are planning to demand that they amend the budget and fully fund Medicaid. We’re not going to let them just get away with it. We’re planning to demand that they reinstitute the funding, reinstitute the expansion so that no one loses their health insurance,” Daley said.

If the federal government cuts Medicaid and the General Assembly refuses to fully fund it, Kisha Jeffries could also lose her coverage. The Granville County resident suffered a fall at a hardware store in January 2024, at a time when she couldn’t afford to pay for insurance, despite working full time. The fall injured her back, but the store only offered her a $1,000 settlement, she said — far too little to cover the cost of medical care.  

“I had no insurance to do x-rays to check my bones and my body. The areas that I was hurting — my back, my neck, my hip, my hand,” she said. 

Thanks to Medicaid expansion, Jeffries qualified for coverage last year and was able to get the x-rays and MRI she needed. 

“Now I’m in physical therapy for all the things that happened to me during that fall. If I did not have that Medicaid, I wouldn’t be able to do any of it,” she said.

Simply having Medicaid has allowed Jeffries to see a doctor and get treatment without worrying about whether she can afford it.

“When you have an emergency arise, you’re able to go, you’re able to be seen and treated as someone with insurance. You’re not treated any different. You’re getting a thorough examination. You’re getting thorough care. You’re getting the medication that you’re needing,” she said.

That sense of security could go away if Republicans cut Medicaid, and it could plunge North Carolinians like Jeffries into medical debt. 

“[People] are going to end up with medical needs and they’re not going to have a choice but to go to see a doctor, either an office or an emergency room, and they’re going to get saddled [with debt], for a single office visit maybe $200 or $300 hundred dollar bill. But for an ER visit, it could be in the thousands. For hospitalization, tens of thousands. Now that person has lifelong completely ruinous medicaid debt,” Ucik said.

@cardinalandpine

Watauga County resident and cancer survivor Dana Bango relies on Medicaid for her health insurance. The security that Medicaid provides allows her to work part-time while she also cares for her elderly father, who’s also cancer survivor. She also cared for her mother, who recently passed away from pancreatic cancer. House Republicans passed a budget resolution last week that would cut up to $880 billion from Medicaid in order to fund tax cuts primarily benefiting corporations and the super wealthy. The Republican-controlled Senate is now considering the bill. Bango worries she and others enrolled in Medicaid will lose access to health coverage if the bill becomes law. “Medicaid, and just health coverage, is one of the keys that help us keep going,” she said.

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Cuts could hurt Watauga County caregiver 

It’s not just Medicaid enrollees who would suffer from Republicans’ cuts; it’s their families. 

Dana Bango, a Watauga County resident, is one of 1.3 million North Carolinians who serves as a caregiver for a family member. She works a part-time job while taking care of her elderly father, and said Medicaid coverage has allowed her to work and take care of her family.

“I’m integral in a lot of people’s lives, and a lot of people depend on me, and I do a lot of labor that is unpaid, and I need to have the backing of good healthcare in order to fulfill all these roles,” she said.

Bango also took care of her elderly mother, who passed away in February after a battle with dementia and pancreatic cancer. Bango is a cancer survivor herself, too, as is her father, and  she worries about what might happen if she loses her Medicaid coverage and access to care. 

“It’s better if we have preventive medicine and we can catch things early. I’ve been through cancer five times now, with my parents and me, in the last five years. Early detection is key… a lot of preventative healthcare is going to be cut, a lot of testing is going to be cut, a lot more people are going to be dying,” she said. 

“All they’re doing is dooming a lot of us to early deaths.”