North Carolina Coverage Gap

At the time of my interview with WRAL about my health and waiting for my Medicaid application to get approved I was unaware of the larger problem, the coverage gap.  I thought that 1700 people waiting for their applications to get approved was bad but what's even worse is the fact that over 300,000 people aren't able to get any coverage at all.  They make too much to be eligible for Medicaid and not enough for coverage from the market place.  This is the case for all of the states, with the exception of Wisconsin, that refused the Medicaid expansion, states with a Republican governor, a GOP controlled chamber in the legislature, or both.

I make too much to be eligible for Medicaid here in the state of NC but I got "lucky" because I have unpaid medical bills and need a biopsy so they add up my medical bills and add the cost of the upcoming biopsy and I meet the Medicaid deductible/spend down by the skin of my teeth.  So, for me, that means I will get Medicaid coverage for 6 months.  After that 6 months I will have to meet that deductible again (which would involve me wracking up another near $5000 of medical bills that I can't pay) or I will not be eligible for Medicaid.  And this is when I fall in to the coverage gap along with the over 300,000 other people in my state.