Join the Society to Urge Support for Medicaid Expansion

As you read in our earlier post about Medicaid expansion, the National MS Society continues to urge our elected leaders to support Medicaid expansion in North and South Carolina.  Be a MS Activist and ask your Governor and legislators to support Medicaid expansion.  Medicaid is a critical lifeline for low-income people living with MS and other illnesses and disabilities. Without access to Medicaid, people with MS would struggle to manage their disease and risk becoming more progressed and debilitated. Delaying access will only further burden our health care system.

While Governor Nikki Haley announced last July that South Carolina "will NOT expand Medicaid, or participate in any health exchanges;" legislative leaders have been debating the Medicaid Expansion in committees.   Legislators need to hear from you about why expansion is important.

Since beginning their work on January 30, the North Carolina General Assembly has worked quickly to prohibit the state from expanding Medicaid eligibility.  Senate Bill 4 passed last week, which would forbid the state from establishing a health benefits exchange and expand Medicaid eligibility. Earlier today, the House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee passed Senate Bill 4 out of committee, which means that they will be considering a vote on the bill this week.   

Although Governor Pat McCrory originally urged lawmakers to slow action on Senate Bill 4, he is now publicly supporting the measure. "In light of recent Medicaid audits, the current system in North Carolina is broken and not ready to expand without great risk to the taxpayers and to the delivery of existing services to those in need. We must first fix and reform the current system," McCrory said in the statement.

With these recent developments, it is even more important that you  Contact your elected leaders TODAY!