WUNC: “When legislators approve a state budget this week, about 600,000 North Carolinians will gain access to Medicaid. Lisa Franklin of Forest City is one of those people….
She’s one of hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians who will get Medicaid once it’s expanded. That was supposed to have happened already, but got delayed when Republican leaders in the House and Senate couldn’t agree to a budget.
The situation became even more dire earlier this week when legislators proposed that Medicaid expansion be linked to a bill allowing casinos to operate in the state. Late Tuesday, that was decoupled, and legislative leaders said they had the framework of a budget deal, again putting Medicaid expansion on track. Franklin says the fight is not over.
“I am relieved that the N.C. General Assembly is not going to be gambling with my life by using Medicaid expansion as a bargaining chip to force a vote on casinos and video slot machines,” Franklin said in a statement Wednesday from the North Carolina Justice Center. “But I still want them to know how important it is to expand Medicaid as quickly as possible for people like me who get stuck in the middle of these political games.””