Expanding Medicaid would create more than 37,000 new jobs and insure approximately 365,000 more people, according to a new non-partisan analysis. The report was prepared by researchers at The George Washington University with funding from Cone Health Foundation and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust.
In addition to the new jobs created and the hundreds of thousands of uninsured residents gaining coverage, the researchers estimate that the state would increase its business activity by $11.7 billion in just three years, between 2020-2022. It is money that could be spent on education, infrastructure, and other needs.
The analysis updates a 2014 report, providing a county-by-county look at the number of jobs, new Medicaid enrollees and economic growth that would result from the state expanding Medicaid. With nearly one in six non-elderly adults in North Carolina uninsured (16 percent)—a rate that is above the national average (12 percent)—every county, urban or rural, stands to benefit.
North Carolina remains one of 14 states yet to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and according to experts at The George Washington University, Medicaid eligibility requirements in North Carolina are the ninth most restrictive in the country. As a result, nearly 1 million North Carolinians between the ages of 19 and 64 are uninsured.
To read the full analysis and get the statistics for your county, click here.
Contact: Frank Walsh
Phone: 202.868.4820
Email: fwalsh@messagepartnerspr.com