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.
For more than a decade, Republicans blocked a federally-funded expansion of healthcare to a half-million North Carolinians. On Thursday, they finally budged.
Democrat Tim Longest was elected to represent West Raleigh in the state House in November. He supports Medicaid expansion, improving workers’ rights, and strengthening gun safety laws.
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.
Democrat Lindsey Prather was elected to the state House in November. A former educator who calls Buncombe County home, Prather is eager to get to work to fight for better teacher pay, expand Medicaid, and defend abortion rights.
Democrat Ya Liu was elected to the state House in November, making her one of the first two Asian American women ever elected to the state legislature.