Fiscal Facts: The 101 on HEALTH needs that North Carolina should be funding during the pandemic

North Carolina currently has $1,471,100,000 in unreserved funds that could be used to meet the persistent needs of families and communities. If North Carolina were to undo tax cuts for the wealthy, we could be bringing in more than $3 billion in additional revenue each year. By failing to tax everyone equitably, North Carolina does not bring in the revenue it needs to fully fund all of the programs and services people need to thrive.

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What N.C. needs right now

  • 723,000 N.C. workers and their dependents have become uninsured since the start of the pandemic through the loss of employer-sponsored health insurance.1
  • 11% of North Carolinians were uninsured in 2019, including 142,000 children, and North Carolinians of color are more likely to be uninsured.2
  • 32% of NC’s COVID-19 cases are among the state’s Hispanic population, though they make up 10% of the state’s population, as of Oct. 12,  2020.3
  • 30% of NC’s COVID-19 deaths are among the state’s Black and African American population, though they make up 22% of the state’s population, as of Oct. 12,  2020. 4

What it takes to fund these N.C. needs

  • 682,000 is the estimated number of North Carolinians who would get health insurance coverage under Medicaid expansion.5
  • 90% is the percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion that the federal government would pay — funds North Carolinians already pay in federal income taxes. The remaining state share of 10% would be financed through provider assessments and taxes on Prepaid Health Plans. 6

What N.C. is actually spending

  • $12.4 million for the NC Community Health Center Association and the NC Association of Free and Charitable Clinics each to assist health centers in providing eligible health services during COVID-19. (Coronavirus Relief Act 3.0)
  • $25 million for NC Department of Health and Human Services to expand public and private initiatives to expand testing, contract tracing, and trends tracking and analysis. (2020 COVID-19 Recovery Act)

Footnotes

  1. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2020). Eligibility for ACA Health Coverage Following Job Loss. Accessed at https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/eligibility-for-aca-health-coverage-following-job-loss/
  2. Khachaturyan, S. (2020) North Carolina’s overall uninsured rate masks stark differences across racial and ethnic groups. Accessed at https://www.ncjustice.org/publications/north-carolinas-overall-uninsured-rate-masks-stark-differences-across-racial-and-ethnic-groups/; North Carolina Justice Center. (2020). Press release: U.S. Census Bureau releases data on health insurance coverage in N.C. Accessed at https://www.ncjustice.org/u-s-census-bureau-releases-data-on-health-insurance-coverage-in-n-c/
  3. NC DHHS. (2020). COVID-19 Response Dashboard: Cases. Accessed at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/cases; U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d). QuickFacts: North Carolina. Accessed at https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/NC
  4. NC DHHS. (2020). COVID-19 Response Dashboard: Cases. Accessed at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/cases; U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d). QuickFacts: North Carolina. Accessed at https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/NC
  5. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2020). How many uninsured adults could be reached if all states expanded Medicaid? Accessed at https://www.kff.org/report-section/how-many-uninsured-adults-could-be-reached-if-all-states-expanded-medicaid-tables/
  6. Khachaturyan, S. (2019). Financing health care for North Carolinians in the coverage gap. Accessed at https://www.ncjustice.org/publications/financing-health-care-for-north-carolinians-in-the-coverage-gap/