Healthcare


North Carolina state Rep. James Roberson, D-Wake, takes a picture with fellow House Democratic members on the House floor after the chamber gave final approval to a Medicaid expansion agreement in Raleigh, N.C., on Thursday, March 23, 2023. The affirmative vote means the legislation laying out expansion details now goes to the desk of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. (AP Photo/ Gary Gary Robertson)
Republican Support for Medicaid Expansion Comes With Strings Attached

GOP leaders in the General Assembly finally budged on expanding healthcare options for 600,000 North Carolinians, but the bill is not without partisan games. 

FILE - North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speaks at a primary election night event hosted by the North Carolina Democratic Party in Raleigh, N.C., May 17, 2022. A Medicaid expansion deal in North Carolina received final legislative approval Thursday, March 23, 2023, likely ending a decade of debate over whether the closely politically divided state should accept the federal government's coverage for hundreds of thousands of low-income adults. Cooper, a longtime expansion advocate, is expected to sign the bill, which would leave 10 states in the U.S. that have not adopted expansion. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown, File)
North Carolina Finally Approves Medicaid Expansion

For more than a decade, Republicans blocked a federally-funded expansion of healthcare to a half-million North Carolinians. On Thursday, they finally budged.

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks about his administration's plans to protect Social Security and Medicare and lower healthcare costs, Feb. 9, 2023, at the University of Tampa in Tampa, Fla. It seems like no one wants to cut Social Security or Medicare benefits, including Biden, who is already telling voters that his upcoming federal budget proposal will “defend and strengthen” the programs. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Biden Proposes Taxes on the Rich to Strengthen Medicare Funding

Biden’s plan would increase the Medicare tax rate on Americans earning above $400,000 from 3.8% to 5% to help keep Medicare solvent into the 2050s. No one earning under $400,000 a year would pay a dime more in taxes, under Biden’s plan. 

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore, center, speaks at a news conference about a Medicaid expansion agreement, Thursday, March 2, 2023, at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
NC Lawmakers Reach Deal to Expand Medicaid Health Insurance to Cover 600,000 More Residents

Medicaid expansion has been shown to save lives, improve postpartum maternal health outcomes, expand access to mental healthcare and substance use, and prevent rural hospitals from closing. 

Doctors from across the state at a news conference at the General Assembly on Wednesday. More than 1,100 medical professionals in North Carolina signed an open letter calling on legislators to reject any new abortion restrictions. (Photo: Michael McElroy)
NC Doctors Offer a Grim Warning About the Dangers of Abortion Bans

Abortion rights advocates have increased their efforts in recent weeks to highlight just how perilous abortion access is in North Carolina.

Photograph via Dana Bango (Bango on the right)
‘I Want to See Her Grow Up’: A North Carolina Mom on How Medicaid Expansion Would Change Her Life

The state House approved a bill to expand Medicaid access to 600,000 more North Carolina residents on Wednesday.

FILE - North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein speaks in favor of protecting abortion access during a news conference at the North Carolina Department of Justice in Raleigh, N.C., Aug. 3, 2022. A North Carolina prosecutor said Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, that campaign-related charges will not be pursued further against Stein or his aides, one day after an appeals court ruled the political libel law her office was seeking to enforce is most likely unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum, File)
NC Attorney General Champions Reproductive Freedom by Refusing to Defend Abortion Pill Restrictions in Lawsuit

Instead, Stein will argue that federal regulations protecting access to abortion pills override North Carolina's state-level restrictions.