Becki Gray’s article published Wednesday (“What’s at stake without a budget?”) raised important questions, but the major issue may be the many citizens who are without health care.   

Medicaid expansion has been available for more than a few years, since President Barack Obama and the Affordable Care Act made it a possibility. Medicaid expansion would provide some much-needed health care for some N.C. citizens who do not now have it.

I have recently read that N.C. is possibly at the bottom of the scale of states in health care.

The reason N.C. has failed to take advantage of Medicaid expansion since its availability is that the N.C. GOP leadership has blindly opposed it and refused any discussion of it.  Gov. Roy Cooper is right in sticking to his guns that Medicaid expansion is an essential

Cooper’s budget also provides additional improvements including larger increases in teacher pay.  Yet there is “blind political allegiance” by the N.C. GOP, which has continually refused to be concerned about the needs of many of the N.C. citizens in their stubborn opposition to Medicaid expansion.

I strongly stand with Cooper as he tries to gain some additional health care for the state’s needy citizens.

— Pat Bullard

China Grove