Health Action NC Hosts First-Ever Digital Medicaid Expansion Advocacy Day

RALEIGH (April 27, 2020) – Health Action NC, a statewide coalition of organizations dedicated to the fight for expanding Medicaid, will host a Digital Medicaid Expansion Advocacy Day and press call at 10:30 am tomorrow.

Speakers on the press call will discuss a series of reports that highlight the urgent need to expand Medicaid more than ever. (Listen to a recording of the call here).

Rep. Verla Insko; Joe Weissfield, Director of Medicaid Initiatives of Families USA; Dr. William Munn of the NC Justice Center; and Penelope Wingard, a North Carolina resident who is in our state’s coverage gap, will participate in the 10:30 am press call to provide journalists with diverse perspectives of the broad-ranging impacts that COVID-19 has nationally, in the state, and locally.

Rep. Verla Insko will discuss plans to pave a path forward for a bill that expands Medicaid in North Carolina.

Joe Weissfield will share the release of a dynamic brief from Families USA that demonstrates the urgency to expand Medicaid for the 250,000 North Carolinians who have lost employer-sponsored health insurance plans.

Dr. Munn will share the findings from his new report on the inequities faced by African Americans in the state and nationwide.

“A lot of [African Americans] have underlying health conditions, and even before COVID-19, we were dying at high rates because we don’t have access to the treatment and medications we need. COVID-19 has just made a bad situation worse,” said Penelope Wingard, a former after-school teacher who lost her health coverage after her last radiation treatment for breast cancer.

From 10:30 am to 2 pm, participants will email and call Senator Berger and Speaker Moore urging them to expand Medicaid for the health and well-being of all North Carolinians.

Following this action will be a 2 pm Tweet storm hosted by Moms Rising. Please follow #ExpandMedicaidNC, #CloseTheGapNC, and #InThisTogether for the tweetstorm.