N.C. governor says he will ignore state law preventing Medicaid expansion
North Carolina’s new Democratic governor says he’ll seek to expand Medicaid even though a state law prevents him from seeking expansion unilaterally.
Gov. Roy Cooper said he would file paperwork with federal regulators and that the state law invades the governor’s “core executive authority.”
A 2013 state law approved by former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and GOP legislators declares that North Carolina won’t expand Medicaid and says the General Assembly must sign off on any proposal by state officials to do so.
Cooper’s announcement comes as President-elect Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders took the first steps at repealing Obama’s signature healthcare reform law.
Republican State Senate leader Phil Berger called Cooper’s plans a “brazenly illegal attempt to force” Medicaid expansion upon state taxpayers.