RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina is now one of the 41 states to expand Medicaid since its authorization in 2014, and a new clinic in Garner is excited to start accepting new patients who now qualify for coverage. 

Medicaid expansion launched in our state Dec. 1. This has been a political topic for years, since it was included in the Federal Affordable Care Act.

It has been known since March that this expansion would happen, as long as a state budget passed, which happened in September.

Currently, there are close to 3,000,000 Medicaid recipients in North Carolina, and as of Dec. 1, 300,000 people were added to Medicaid rolls in the state. The expansion is estimated to add 600,000 people to Medicaid rolls in the state eventually.

With this expansion, many of these added Medicaid patients fell into what is known as the gap, meaning they didn’t make enough to qualify before but made too much to qualify for the Affordable Care Act. Now, they’ll have access to health care insurance.

A new primary clinic in Garner, Rose Hope Primary Care, will be accepting Medicaid. The owner, Angela Plummer, said she is excited that Medicaid expansion has started.

“So many people that need health care will hopefully have some coverage with this new Medicaid expansion that is happening December 1. Rose Hope may not be able to see everyone, but we definitely hope to do our part within our community and Garner and the surrounding area,” Plummer said.

Being in the health care field has always been in the cards for Plummer, who is a family nurse practitioner. She has worked in the medical field for more than 11 years. Throughout her career, she’s been able to serve all walks of life - immigrants, people experiencing homelessness, and insured and uninsured patients.

With Medicaid expansion started, Plummer is looking forward to being able to help even more people.

“We’ve had a lot of people calling, asking and crying about it. We have had people that have now had new coverage that have appointments already made. They are waiting for their plans to kick in,” Plummer said.

Plummer said patients who don’t have Medicaid or any other coverage may be paying out-of-pocket costs, which can be costly. This may lead people to not seek out health care professionals at all.

“When you don’t receive health care, then the diseases, the complications, they progress. Things only get worse, and then you’re out of the preventive stage and now you’re in the more treatment phases and sometimes that can be very expensive,” Plummer said.

Plummer said she knows what it’s like to experience challenges.

“I know the struggle, and it’s important to give back. You reach down, you pull up, you help those in need, just like we were when we needed it back then,” Plummer said.

One of the reasons North Carolina waited to allow Medicaid expansion was that the Medicaid system in the state was running in the red. Republican leaders said that has been fixed now, and many say now was the time to add.

This expansion not only allows more people access to health care, it will also allow the state to collect federal dollars associated with the expansion.