With the COVID-19 pandemic now immobilizing the world, no one needs reminding that healthcare and how to get it is the No. 1 priority in North Carolina and around the country. Yet, Republican officeholders from the president to our elected state legislators have an abysmal record on improving health care.
The GOP message is clear: Don’t get sick, but if you do, you’re on your own.
Republicans like Sen. Thom Tillis and Rep. David Rouzer say they favor health insurance reform, just not Obamacare. But so far, they haven’t offered a reasonable substitute for Obamacare, and no alternative is on the horizon.
Meanwhile, the Trump Administration supports a case now before the U.S. Supreme Court to repeal Obamacare. Furthermore, it has shown no consideration for the more than 30 million Americans still without health insurance.
The message from Democrats is far more positive and realistic—Obamacare, we say, was an excellent start; but Americans want benefits such as Medicaid expansion and the elimination of pre-existing conditions to continue. Many Democrats also favor the addition of a public option for Obamacare. But they’re wary of adopting a “Medicare for all” solution that would end health insurance coverage they now have and would be difficult to finance.
When it comes to providing adequate healthcare for all North Carolina residents, Democrats are on your side. But Trump and his pals—Tillis, Rouzer and the GOP majority in the state legislature—never will be. The best way to make sure we have improved access to affordable health insurance is to expand Medicaid in our state, like 35 states and the District of Columbia have already done.
That will never happen in North Carolina as long as the GOP controls the legislature. It’s another reason why Brunswick County voters need to support Democrat candidates on Election Day.
Submitted by Arthur Hill Mosquito 2