Healthcare should be available to every North Carolina citizen. However, it needs to be accessible, affordable, and good quality care. In the next few years, we are expecting to see insurance premiums rise, and some families will lose their coverage due to changes to the Affordable Care Act. This will cause some of our citizens to lack healthcare coverage once again causing an increase in the number of uninsured people in North Carolina that will not be able to afford healthcare.
Currently, there are over 300,000 people in North Carolina that lack healthcare coverage due to the non-expansion of Medicaid. An unhealthy population in North Carolina is not economically sustainable. Services to the most vulnerable will be cut unless we work together to create policies that include putting resources into preventive care services and promoting wellness initiatives in our communities.
Currently, NC is in a Mental Health Crisis and Substance Abuse Epidemic. North Carolina policy makers will have to be creative in the coming years in how it addresses Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services.