(The Center Square) — More than 400 health care workers signed a letter urging the leader of the University of North Carolina Health system to leave the state’s hospital association as leverage to gain Medicaid expansion.
The letter was sent to Dr. A. Wesley Burks, chief executive officer of UNC Health and Dean of the UNC School of Medicine.
“North Carolina is thus on the cusp of a historic milestone of advancing health equity and health outcomes, yet the N.C. Healthcare Association (NCHA), whose largest member is UNC Health, is blocking that progress to protect a business model predicated on the strictest certificate of need (CON) laws,” the letter states.
There’s widespread bipartisan support for expanding Medicaid to enable approximately 600,000 North Carolinians to receive health care coverage, according to the letter. The letter emphasizes UNC Health’s role in influencing NCHA to begin efforts to revise regulations pertaining to certificates of need. The certificates are approved by state regulatory agencies for approving major capital expenditures and projects for certain health care organizations.
“Dr. Burks, if you cannot move NCHA to prioritize Medicaid expansion over financial interests, then we respectfully ask UNC Health to consider leaving the Association,” the letter states. “Only decisive condemnation can demonstrate that UNC Health is truly committed to addressing racial and economic health disparities and promoting the health of patients and communities it serves.”
In early August, the NCHA sent a letter to Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger and Speaker of the House Tim Moore, both Republicans, emphasizing the organization’s support for the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program to fully fund Medicaid expansion.
“We are not elected to office and therefore we are not the ones standing in the way of passing legislation,” wrote Steve Lawler, President and Chief Executive Officer of the NCHA. “That burden, and opportunity, lies with your branches of government. Please adopt the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program, which will fully fund Medicaid expansion, and expand Medicaid. Both options are essential as we continue to grow and prosper as a state. Both options are too important to let die because you are looking for a deal.”
North Carolina is one of 12 states without Medicaid expansion. In an editorial in the Charlotte Observer, Cooper identified the healthcare industry as the obstacle.
“It’s a fight about allowing more competition for hospitals,” Cooper wrote. “Now I wish we could have that fight later and get Medicaid expansion done today, but the Senate leadership is insisting that government restraints on hospital competition should be reduced before Medicaid expansion takes place.
“Hospital leaders know that no vote will come on Medicaid expansion this year unless they compromise on competition, but the powerful hospital lobby hasn’t yielded out of fear for their profits. Our state has some of the most restrictive laws on hospital competition, so there is room to move.”
