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Sign as a Business Leader

As a North Carolina business leader, I endorse the following statement:

We, as North Carolina business leaders, understand that a strong economy and a thriving workforce require healthy families. Right now, too many hard-working families are uninsured. In fact, about two-thirds of all uninsured adults in North Carolina work. They are construction workers, farmers, child care providers, and even veterans. We urge the North Carolina General Assembly to achieve a bi-partisan solution to close the health insurance coverage gap. Now is the time to act. There are proposals on the table that would require no investment of state tax dollars and closing the gap would create an estimated 37,000 jobs and billions in economic activity. Much of this economic activity would benefit our rural communities and other areas most in need of an economic boost. Closing the health insurance coverage gap is a good deal for the health of North Carolina families and for our economy. We urge you to work together and achieve a policy solution that closes the health insurance coverage gap.

Business Leaders for Closing the Coverage Gap

By signing this statement you are granting permission to Care4Carolina to publicize your endorsement. Your personal information will only be used for the purposes of this public endorsement statement and will not be shared with any other entity. Personal contact information will not be shared in endorsement statements listings or ads. Employer affiliation will be used for identification purposes only. For example: “Mr./Ms./Mrs. John Doe, CEO, ABC Corporation*; Anytown, NC”.

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Sign as a Civic Leader

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Sign as a Faith Community

Faith Leaders Addendum

As a North Carolina faith leader/ community of faith, I/we endorse the following statement:

We, as people of faith in North Carolina, believe that the Lord brings good news to the poor, binds up the broken-hearted, and comforts all those who mourn. We believe that when we work to ease the burdens of our neighbors who are struggling the most, we are caring for God. And, we believe we are called to follow our God by doing good, not only in the halls of our congregations, but by seeking justice in the wider world.

That means we cannot stand silent when presented with the opportunity to provide healthcare coverage for hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters. We understand that a community cannot flourish while its people lack access to affordable, quality healthcare. Healthy families are the bedrock of our communities of faith and of our local economies. Uninsured North Carolinians include members of our congregations, pastors, child care providers, farmers, construction workers, small business owners, neighbors, and friends. We urge the North Carolina General Assembly to work together across bi-partisan lines to close the health insurance coverage gap for all of these children of God.

Signing Disclosure

By signing this statement you are granting permission to Care4Carolina to publicize your endorsement. Your personal information will only be used for the purposes of this public endorsement statement and will not be shared with any other entity. Personal contact information will not be shared in endorsement statements, listings, or ads. Employer information will be used for identification purposes only. For example: “Rev. John Doe, Pastor, ABC Church, Anytown, NC.”

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Sign as a Grassroots Group

As legislation progresses to enact a North Carolina solution to close the health insurance coverage gap, it is critical that we have a grassroots team ready to mobilize. By signing up as a member of the Care4Carolina Grassroots Action Network, you agree to activate your group/organization when action is requested during the campaign. Action requests may include but are not limited to reaching out to legislators, sharing posts on social media, and relaying information to other contacts.

Your work as a grassroots group/organization is essential to our efforts, and Care4Carolina appreciates your support in ensuring that our mission is achieved. Together, we will find a North Carolina solution to close the health insurance coverage gap.

*By signing on as a member of the Care4Carolina Grassroots Action Network, your group/organization’s information will not be shared externally. The information collected through this form is for internal use only.

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Coverage Gap Strains Health Systems and Heightens Health Disparities During COVID-19 Pandemic

July 21, 2020 by Hailey Gutzmer Leave a Comment

By: Peg O’Connell

On July 14th, Care4Carolina hosted a virtual briefing on COVID-19 and the coverage gap. The quick take away from the briefing is that COVID has made the bad situation created by North Carolina’s failure to enact a solution to close the coverage gap much worse and that COVID has exacerbated historic health disparities in communities of color across our state.

Jason Gray, Senior Fellow for Research & Policy at the NC Rural Center, and a genius with numbers, estimated that the economic chaos caused by COVID has added as many as 191,000 people to the roles of the uninsured and that many of them now fall into the coverage gap.  He also reminded attendees of the great positive impact that creating a solution for closing the gap could have on our state’s economy.  Close to 40,000 healthcare related jobs could be created by 2022 if we were to close the gap. This would be especially helpful to the rural parts of the Old North State.

Dr. Lacy Hobgood from the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University explained the impact of COVID, coupled with the existing coverage gap, on our healthcare system.  Again, the news is not good.  Already financially strained hospitals are seeing more and more uninsured patients in their emergency rooms and many physician practices have had to close or cut back on the number of patients that they can see in their offices.  So, during the worst health crisis in a century, hospitals and physician’s practices are in jeopardy of going broke. COVID didn’t cause all this but it has clearly exposed the underlying weaknesses in our healthcare system.

As alarming as the above is, the most disturbing news came from Dr. Karen Winkfield, Radiation Oncologist and Director of Cancer Health Equity at Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

Dr. Winkfield laid out how COVID is disproportionately impacting communities of color in our state, and especially African-Americans.  It was shocking to learn that, nationwide, Blacks are dying from COVID at a rate 2.5 times higher than Whites and, although African-Americans represent 21% of North Carolina’s population, they suffer 33% of the deaths. 

There are a variety of reasons for this disparity, according to Dr. Winkfield, including underlying chronic conditions, social determinants of health and, let’s face it, conscious and unconscious racial bias that has been part of our society for far too long. And, wait for it, lack of access to affordable health insurance.  

At the present time, African-Americans are two to three times more likely to have no insurance or be underinsured than their White counterparts. One of the chief contributors to this lack of affordable options to buy health insurance is North Carolina’s failure to close the coverage gap.

Finding a solution to close North Carolina’s coverage gap won’t fix all of the problems discussed in the briefing, but it sure would take us a long way down the road to a healthier, more prosperous and more equitable state.

Category iconSummer 2020 Series Tag iconCovid-19/coronavirus,  Health Disparities

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