Myron B. Pitts: Veto override attempt was a big show for NC lawmakers; expand Medicaid instead

On Wednesday, lawmakers wasted the peoples’ time.

The Republican majority in the N.C. General Assembly tried to overturn Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 173, which would make it optional for public school students to wear masks. The effort failed with all Democrats united against.

That includes Democratic state Sens. Kirk deViere of Cumberland County and Ben Clark of Hoke and Cumberland counties, both of whom voted with Republicans for the bill in February.

The vote came a day after Cooper shocked the state’s political world with a surprise endorsement of deViere’s opponent in the Democratic primary, Val Applewhite. In the past, deViere has sometimes voted with Republicans on high-profile legislation related to the budget and pandemic protections. Cooper did not cite that as a reason for endorsing Applewhite.

Still, people may speculate that deViere’s vote Wednesday was a reaction to Cooper’s move. Personally, I doubt it.

First, one could easily make a case that deViere, instead of backing Cooper, would have every incentive to pay the governor back by voting for the override.

Second, and what I think is the real reason: The Free the Smiles Act is unnecessary. It is what I call “show legislation,” or a show vote, a political maneuver meant to make the other party look bad.

The day of the vote, 110 of 115 school districts in our state had already made masks optional, including Cumberland County. In other words, in nearly every corner of the state, students already have the choice on whether to wear masks without the need of additional legislation.

The bill, which was promoted heavily by House Speaker Tim Moore and other GOP members, was simply designed to make the governor look unreasonable when it comes to pandemic restrictions.

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It reminds me of that silly trucker rally in D.C. These people drove across country in a time of crazy gas prices to protest pandemic restrictions that were already being rolled back. The truckers wound up driving their rigs in a circle around D.C. Not the best model for our state’s lawmakers to follow.

Actually useful legislation

I have a humble suggestion for actually useful legislation the General Assembly could consider.

You may not know that North Carolina is on an increasingly small island of states, just 12, that have refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The move would provide health care to half-a-million or as many as 600,000+ state residents, according to various projections. The federal government would shoulder a huge majority of the cost; that is why states left, right and center, politically speaking, have expanded Medicaid.

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As the drama over masks illustrates, we are just working our way out of a deadly pandemic. It has cast a bright light on the inequities in our health care system.

To refuse to expand Medicaid at this point is beyond hardheaded — though it is that, too. It is drifting toward cruelty.

Medicaid expansion would save lives.

It is not difficult to figure out why. When people don’t have money or a way to pay for care, they skip going to the doctor. Eventually, their body catches up with them: It may be a chronic illness; it may be a stomach pain they never got looked at; it may be a change in bowel habits that seemed odd to them — or it may be COVID-19.

When they finally are forced to go to the ER, the situation is worse for everybody. The patient is in worse shape than if he or she might have been, had they had regular checkups and caught potential problems in time.

Meanwhile, they still have no money. Unpaid bills often get absorbed by the hospital and eventually by those of us who are insured. ER care is the most expensive care. Any of you who have debated whether to go to the ER and foot the big co-pay or wait it out till the next day when you can see your regular (cheaper) doctor, or an urgent care facility — you know what I am talking about.

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Others who are unable to pay for medical care wait until it’s too late, and there is little doctors and nurses can do for them. Still others go broke — two thirds of people who go into bankruptcy say medical bills caused it, which is a national disgrace.

Additionally, Medicaid payments can help rescue struggling rural hospitals in our state that don’t have the same resources as their urban cousins. Twenty of the 22 counties in our state with the highest percentage of uninsured residents are rural counties, according to a news release earlier this month from the nonprofit N.C. Rural Center. (The release advocated for Medicaid expansion.)

Every legislator in Raleigh — to a man and to a woman — knows how this system works. Everything I just said, they already know.

This is an election year, so we will hear from both parties that the person on the other side of the aisle ain’t worth a plugged nickel. But we know this legislature and this governor are capable of producing good, bipartisan legislation. Last year’s budget was imperfect but an overall commendable piece of legislation that will serve a lot of people.

I am heartened that some movement is being made on Medicaid expansion even if saddened it took so long. DeViere as it happens serves on a bipartisan study committee that is discussing Medicaid expansion, and I am hoping it bears fruit.

I believe North Carolinians deserve better than show votes.

Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Myron B. Pitts discusses eastern NC lawmakers, their recent votes, Medicaid