RALEIGH, N.C. – After years of debate and months of waiting for enactment, Medicaid expansion is live in North Carolina.

Since Dec. 1, hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians have gained health coverage. One of them is Anthony Brooks.

What You Need To Know

  •  Medicaid expansion was signed into law in March

  •  It was tied to the state budget, so it did not go into effect for months

  •  During those months, some North Carolinians lost their Medicaid coverage

  •  Expansion went live on Dec. 1

About a week after expansion took effect, Brooks received a letter telling him he had health coverage.

“I wasn't expecting this. I mean, because I know things take time and I'm pretty patient and it was a miracle,” he said. “Then when I started to read and line by line, I mean, it kind of opened me up to life again.”

It’s not the only paperwork he has in his home, however.

He also has a long list of the medication he must take, after he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure earlier this year.

The diagnosis came with a lot of fear and unknowns ahead. A doctor recommended Brooks get a surgery that would cost $125,000.

“I don’t make that much money. I didn't know what it was coming from, who was going to pay for this. I mean, how I was going to eat. I mean, insurance policies? Was I going to die if I didn't have it? I mean, it was stressful, very stressful,” he said.

Medicaid expansion was signed into law in March. It didn’t go into effect, however, until December because it was tied to the state budget.

In June, right around the time Brooks was diagnosed, Medicaid qualification changed, as the pandemic-era levels of who could be covered were dropped.

Brooks made just a few dollars too much and lost his Medicaid coverage.

He says he knows people who died during those months, waiting for expansion to go into effect.

He believes it was unnecessary suffering for himself and others.

“I'm so disturbed about the situation and the timing of everything. This shouldn't have to be this way. I mean, these are human lives,” Brooks said.

As new North Carolinians continue to receive coverage, Brooks says he’s still upset over the wait but now has a new path to follow.

He plans “to research to find out what the limitations and the extent that I have insurance, to research my condition. I've been looking for other alternatives myself to see if they would work, educate myself more and be more, more active in my environment and societies.”

For more information about who can get coverage, what coverage entails and next steps, click here. 

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