NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) — This week marks one year since Medicaid expanded in North Carolina, making hundreds of thousands of people eligible for healthcare they couldn’t previously afford.
On Wednesday, Governor Cooper said nearly 600,000 North Carolinians had already enrolled in year one — roughly doubling the state’s projections.
Healthcare advocates say those numbers speak to the overwhelming need for expansion in North Carolina, especially in rural communities. Those eligible under expansion are living below the poverty line but making too much to have previously qualified for Medicaid — a phenomenon known as the Medicaid gap.
“An incredible impact for healthcare for them, when they didn’t have any before — they couldn’t afford it,” said Rachel Vaughters, a healthcare advocate in Raleigh.
Vaughters has spent the last six years helping North Carolinians get coverage, working with many who — before this year — fell into that gap.
“They’re so close to being covered. And this expansion has just created opportunity for them to finally …