Despite national election results, the new Democratic governor of North Carolina is working to fulfill his campaign pledge to expand Medicaid in his state. Gov. Roy Cooper moved last week to use his executive authority to take the expansion offered by Obamacare. The Republican legislature then sued, and a federal judge has temporarily suspended the effort.
Saturday’s order prevents the Obama administration from taking action on Cooper’s request to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act — which was made without approval of the Republican legislature — for 14 days or until the court takes further action.
Federal health officials had vowed to move quickly on the request. But a 14-day pause would leave the request in the hands of the Trump administration. President-elect Donald Trump opposes the health law and has vowed to repeal it, which the Republican-led Congress is already moving to do. […]
Cooper spokeswoman Noelle Talley criticized legislators, saying they were putting political ideology ahead of bringing jobs and better health care to North Carolina.
“They’re wasting taxpayer dollars and letting money already paid by North Carolinians go to other states,” Talley stated in an email.
That's absolutely true, but unlikely to sway North Carolina Republicans. The future for the 650,000 or so North Carolinians who would benefit remains murky, at best. While popular vote loser Donald Trump is promising everyone in the country that they'll have beautiful insurance, congressional Republicans see this as their best opportunity in decades to kill off Medicaid. Trump's actions thus far—including naming avowed Medicaid opponent Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) to head up Health and Human Services—argue against his becoming a Medicaid champion.
But here's the thing: Trump has promised universal coverage, a promise that Cooper and congressional Democrats can hammer at every single day while state and national Republicans fail to provide it. Cooper was absolutely right to take on this fight. What better way to drive a wedge between Republicans AND to show how Democrats will lead.