LUMBERTON, N.C. — State legislators have come up with an agreement on expanding Medicaid. While health care leaders we spoke with said this could be a plus for thousands of North Carolinians, they said it can also help in other areas. 

What You Need To Know

  • A doctor at UNC Health Southeastern said Medicaid expansion could be positive for hospitals in rural communities

  • State legislators said a part of the Medicaid expansion deal is the Health Access and Stabilization Plan

  • The Health Access and Stabilization Plan would give states an opportunity to bring billions of dollars in federal funds to help hospitals

Dr. Robin Peace, a family physician at UNC Health Southeastern, said this news could be positive for hospitals in rural communities, especially those that may be struggling financially. 

“Medicaid expansion is [a] win-win, it’s win-win for the patients, for the medical community, for the hospital system, for the community at large,” Peace said. 

Peace, who works in Lumberton, said she’s excited to hear that state legislators had come to an agreement on expanding Medicaid in our state. 

“When I first heard the news, my first reaction was, 'finally,'” Peace said. 

Peace said this is her 25th year working here in a rural part of North Carolina. She said in rural settings there’s sometimes a higher percentage of uninsured patients.

“When people are admitted to our hospital and they are uninsured, it costs the same to treat those patients, and so, we are still treating them because everyone deserves health care in my opinion, and so, it puts a challenge on the budget, on hospital systems when you’re treating a large number of people that are uninsured," Peace said. 

While hospitals like this one may be eating that cost, Peace said more federal funding may be able to help. State legislators said a part of the Medicaid expansion deal is the Health Access and Stabilization Plan, which would give states an opportunity to bring billions of dollars in federal funds to help hospitals. 

“I mean it is this type of funding that actually keeps rural health care open and it helps the hospitals to provide greater services," Peace said. “Without funding like this, there have been hospital systems that have been on the verge of closing, there have been services that we’ve had to stop in some instances.”

Peace said Medicaid expansion is the first step, but she said hospital systems need for it to start as soon as possible so they can continue to provide quality care for their patients. The Republican plan calls for it to start later this year when the new budget is enacted, likely early in the summer.