Advocate: Rural hospitals, 670,000 North Carolinians at risk if Medicaid cuts become law
By Marc Liverman
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ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — More than 600,000 North Carolinians are at risk of losing their Medicaid coverage over the next decade if the Trump administration’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” passes the House, according to local health care advocates.
Karen Wallace-Meigs, the executive director of Western North Carolina’s Medical Society, said 670,000 North Carolinians are at risk of losing coverage, adding that the cut could impact 12 million people nationwide.
If the bill passes and $39 billion gets slashed from Medicaid, Wallace-Meigs said rural and remote hospitals are at risk of being forced to shut down. She explained that means more patients would have to travel farther for care in emergencies.
“Imagine you’re going into labor, and heaven forbid, something’s going wrong,” she said. “You’ve got to go so much farther—windy mountains, slick roads—trying to get there. You’re in danger. Your baby’s in danger.”
The executive director also worries that people who are sick could wait longer for care.
“They’re going to wait longer. They’re going to have worse outcomes. And ultimately, not one but more people could die, and that keeps me up at night,” Wallace-Meigs said.
Republicans say Medicaid cuts could get rid of waste, fraud and abuse. So, for now, Wallace-Meigs is preparing for the worst.
“We need people standing up and saying, ‘This isn’t what I want for my community. It’s not what I want for my neighbor. It’s not what I want for myself,'” she said.
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