Local NAACP pushes for Medicaid expansion, highlighting health benefits for all

Medicaid expansion in North Carolina is closing the healthcare gap for hundreds of thousands.

"Every person, no matter the background or culture, religion or identity, deserves access to affordable quality healthcare," Valerie Foshee, a congresswoman, said.

This is a powerful message to those who attended a behavioral health and health equity forum in Hillsborough on Saturday, in which Foushee says knowledge is power.

"I think part of this convening is to ensure the message is getting out—that affordable health care does exist with the expansion of Medicaid," Foushee said.

She says moving forward with the expansion of Medicaid in North Carolina has given a lot more people access to something they couldn't get before.

"Those folk who fell in the gap, who couldn't get in the exchange or couldn't afford health insurance through their employers, have an opportunity," Foushee said.

National Medicaid leader joins NC Gov. Cooper to celebrate Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion

The event's keynote speaker was NC Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley.

"A health system that leaves people behind is no health system at all," Kinsley said.

Kinsley says Medicaid expansion is one of the best tools they've ever had to help close disparity gaps.

"This is working, and it's working fast, and that's great for the people of North Carolina," Kinsley said.

However, he says we still have a ways to go.

"I want to get every single possible person that is eligible for expansion enrolled," Kinsley said.

But he says that's still going to leave them with hundreds of thousands of people who don't have access to health care because they don't have access to health insurance, something they hope to change in the future.

Doctor Michelle Laws, who helped organize the event, adds that they hope this conversation will underscore their commitment and highlight ways the community can be involved in the solutions.