- Piedmont Rising
ICYMI: Que Pasa News: Report Shows How Failure to Expand Medicaid is Hurting Rural North Carolinians
Updated: Apr 23, 2020
ICYMI: Que Pasa News: Report Shows How Failure to Expand Medicaid is Hurting Rural North Carolinians
As the firstCOVID-19 case of a seasonal farmworker in NC is confirmed, essential ag and food workers may be at risk as COVID-19 infections reach rural America
Raleigh, N.C. -- While much of the national focus on the growing number of COVID-19 cases has been on “hot spots” across the U.S., rural communities in North Carolina have begun to brace for the impacts.
According to Que Pasa News, “In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and as the spring harvest season is about to start, the lack of access to health care in rural North Carolina could put thousands of agricultural workers, many of them undocumented, and their families at risk.”
[...]
“A report recently released by the non-profit organization Piedmont Rising, dedicated to the fight for affordable and accessible health care in North Carolina noted … rural communities in North Carolina are increasingly limited in access to health care services. Seventy of the state's eighty rural counties are considered medical deserts due to the lack of primary care available to their residents.
“... the state has experienced some of the highest rural hospital closings in the country. Only Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia have had more closed rural hospitals in the past 10 years. All including North Carolina, are states that have rejected Medicaid expansion.
"Health care in North Carolina is disproportionately impacted by political decisions made by our leaders, such as not expanding Medicaid, threatening to suspend Medicare, and not working to lower the high costs of drugs," said Casey Wilkinson, Piedmont Rising Executive Director.
“Wilkinson believes there are things that can be done at the state and federal levels to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the fields, such as expanding Medicaid, keeping hospitals open, and ensuring that there are places where essential workers can get the treatment they need.”
Read the full story HERE.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jessica Coscia
###
About Piedmont Rising
Piedmont Rising is a 501 (c)4 issue advocacy organization built by and for North Carolinians to advocate for lower insurance premiums and prescription drug costs and to ensure that more people have access to safe and affordable health care. Through grassroots organizing, education, and engagement, we are amplifying our health care stories and holding our elected officials accountable to the people, and issues they were elected to represent. www.piedmontrising.org