In recognition of the one-year anniversary of Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper visited ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville to reflect on the impact of expansion and celebrate a year of reaching North Carolinians in need.
Since Medicaid expansion officially launched in North Carolina on Dec. 1, 2023, more than 80,000 eastern North Carolinians and nearly 600,000 people statewide have benefited from access to vital health insurance. Along with Medicaid expansion, the state also passed the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program (HASP), which provides critical relief to rural hospitals.
Gov. Cooper said Medicaid expansion’s reach in rural communities, like ECU Health’s 29-county service area, has been especially impactful in the last year.
“The last year showed us that this is something that people desperately needed, particularly here in rural North Carolina,” Gov. Cooper said. “I grew up in Nashville and we know that rural North Carolinians have been helped more by Medicaid expansion than anyone else. I hold close to my heart the mission of getting people healthier. I knew getting Medicaid expansion passed and signed into law was the most important thing we could do to accomplish that.”
This milestone reflects the culmination of more than six years of advocacy by ECU Health, driven by the challenges faced by uninsured and underinsured patients.
Dr. Michael Waldrum, ECU Health chief executive officer and dean of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, said Medicaid expansion and HASP funding is creating real differences for patients, health care workers and the future of health care in places like eastern North Carolina.
“Medicaid expansion has helped improve access to primary care, empowering people to take control of their health and their lives,” Dr. Waldrum said. “It is also an investment in rural health organizations like ours. At the same time and in partnership with the state, ECU Health and the Brody School of Medicine are also committed to doing their part to support primary care expansion efforts in rural health care.”
He highlighted the expansion of the Rural Family Medicine Residency program, which will train nine rural residents per class across three training sites in the East and the upcoming Center for Medical Education Building on Brody’s campus. This investment has helped and will continue to help ECU Health and Brody serve the combined mission of improving the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina.
Dr. Karen Coward, a family medicine physician with ECU Health, is a Kinston native and practices in Tarboro. She said she knew by age 10 she wanted to be a family physician in her home community. She attended Brody and stayed true to her dream of serving eastern North Carolina.
She said before Medicaid expansion, many of her patients would rely on the emergency department for care. Even if a patient was connected with primary care, it was difficult for them to follow through with appointments or afford medications. Chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension or even cancer would go unchecked. Now, she said, she’s seen a life-changing shift.
“Patients who once cycled through the emergency department are now establishing relationships with primary care providers like me,” Dr. Coward said. “They are keeping their appointments, following through on recommendations, treatments, and gaining access to medications and specialist referrals that were previously out of reach. For many, this will mean earlier diagnoses and interventions, reducing the burden of advanced diseases.”
Kody Kinsley, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, joined the event and said that in the past year over $58 million in dental claims alone were filed, millions of prescriptions were filled and hundreds of millions of dollars in claims supporting hospital care were taken care of through Medicaid expansion.
He said this comprehensive health insurance is already making a real difference for individuals and families.
“Medicaid expansion is life changing for families,” Sec. Kinsley said. “It is peace of mind for people as they sit up late at night thinking about how the next day will impact them. Will a sickness impact their family? Will they end up in debt? They don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
The event also included remarks from a Medicaid expansion beneficiary, Darcy Guill from Ayden, who shared her gratefulness for regular care she’s receiving, specialists she’s able to visit and prescriptions she can fill, thanks to Medicaid expansion.
As we look back over the previous year, we’re proud to build the national model for rural health care here in eastern North Carolina at ECU Health and we’re grateful for the support the region and health system through Medicaid expansion and HASP.