CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Governor Cooper signed the bill on Monday. Medicaid expansion will provide more than 600 thousand North Carolinians with health insurance. It will also scale back certificate of need regulations, which will make it easier to open new healthcare facilities.
However, the law will not take effect until the state budget is approved this summer.
Abby Emanuelson, the Director at Care4Carolina, says that this is a relief after years of fighting for expansion.
“Certainly a little bit of relief that this is we’ve finally got here to this point, but also just some excitement for the fact that so many North Carolinians are going to have access to affordable health care,” Emanuelson says.
House Republican Jon Hardister, who started supporting Medicaid expansion this year, says that while work still needs to be done, expansion is a good thing for North Carolina.
“There’s still work that needs to be done to improve health care in our state,” Hardister says. “That continues to be a complex topic. But I do believe this will have a positive impact on the state.”