The NC Teapublican Party, led by our esteemed Governor Pat McCrory, decided against operating a state health insurance exchange and against expanding Medicaid to help NC's working poor, all in the name of "saving money."
As usual, Republican math couldn't get past your 3rd grade teacher.
When North Carolina officials decided not to set up a state insurance exchange, deferring instead to the federal government, they triggered a 3.5 percent service charge, tacked onto North Carolina’s insurance rates, to run the exchange.
Additionally, North Carolina officials opted not to expand Medicaid, the federal insurance program for the poor. As a result, about 200,000 people who would have qualified for Medicaid will now qualify for insurance subsidies.
Those people are widely expected to be in poorer health, prompting insurance companies to boost rates by an estimated 2 percent to compensate for the risk of insuring this population
The state’s decisions not to embrace the health care law likely dissuaded insurers from entering North Carolina’s market, inhibiting price competition, said Kerry Hall, spokeswoman for the N.C. Department of Insurance.
Raleigh News & Observer
NC Republicans' rejection of the ACA and Medicaid expansion have resulted in essentially a 5.5% surtax on health insurance premiums for NC residents, and higher overall premiums to boot.
Thank you SO much, Governor McCrory.