Coalition with NC AIDS Action Network, Beloved Community Center, Progress NC
Members and organizers with Working America joined others from North Carolina AIDS Action Network, Beloved Community Center, and Progress North Carolina for a press conference in Greensboro on Thursday to call for "swift expansion of Medicaid to help the thousands of North Carolinians who don't have access to healthcare," according to the coalition's press release.
Following months of community conversations promoting Medicaid expansion, the coalition is coming together to host an event in support of Medicaid expansion that includes the presentation of an open letter signed by more than a dozen area community groups and the delivery of thousands of petitions at a Lobby Day at the Capitol in Raleigh on Tuesday, March 24.
“We are losing a lot of jobs and a lot of money all because Gov. McCrory won’t expand Medicaid,” said Working America member Sara White. “Hundreds of thousands of working North Carolinians call on Gov. McCrory and state lawmakers to end this harmful delay now.”
"Every year that our state fails to expand Medicaid, more than one thousand North Carolinians die unnecessarily,” said Claire Hermann of the North Carolina AIDS Action Network. “Countless others leave illnesses untreated and undiagnosed. Our leaders must stop playing politics with the lives of their constituents."
Guilford County includes an estimated 79,000 residents under the age of 65 with no form of health insurance, according to the Guilford County Health Department.
Watch coverage of the press conference by Bill O'Neil with local NBC affiliate WXII.
"They are urging Gov. McCrory to join governors in more than two dozen states, several of them Republicans, to join them in expanding Medicaid. Besides providing health care benefits to the poor, they say it will create thousands of jobs and bring a billion dollars in revenue to the state."
March 24th is the citizen Lobby Day for Medicaid expansion in NC
Join advocates from across North Carolina at the General Assembly on Tuesday, March 24 to show your support for closing the Medicaid coverage gap. We will deliver to the governor and lawmakers our letter - along with thousands of petition signatures calling for Medicaid expansion. Help us make sure half a million hard-working North Carolinians gain access to health coverage that would create 43,000 new jobs and bring over a billion dollars into our state's economy.
What: Medicaid Lobby Day
When: All day Tuesday, March 24, 2015 beginning at 8:30 AM
Where: North Carolina General Assembly, 16 W. Jones St., Raleigh, NC 27601
Register: http://bit.ly/closethegap2015
Grab the flyer for Medicaid Lobby Day (PDF)