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U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross and state Rep. Sarah Crawford spoke at a virtual press conference Wednesday sponsored by the advocacy group Protect Our Care to condemn congressional Republicans for including cuts to Medicaid funding in their latest proposed budget plan.
Republicans are considering cutting $880 billion in funding for the program that enrolls about 80 million adults and children, according to the Associated Press.
Ross, a Democrat from Wake County who represents North Carolina’s second congressional district, said millions of North Carolina residents rely on healthcare coverage from the program.
“For years, North Carolina had one of the largest uninsured populations in the entire country, but thanks to the tireless efforts of Governor Roy Cooper and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, along with bipartisan support in the North Carolina General Assembly and a boost from Democrats in Congress, our state finally became the 40th to expand Medicaid,” she said.
Among those who would likely lose coverage are children, new moms, seniors, and people with disabilities.
North Carolina launched Medicaid expansion in December 2023.
As of February 2025, the program had allowed more than 628,000 residents to gain healthcare coverage, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
“Medicaid is an essential pillar of our health care system, one that keeps people healthier, sustains our rural hospitals and saves lives,” North Carolina Rep. Sarah Crawford, a Democrat from Wake County, said. “If these cuts go through, the financial burden will fall squarely on the people who have only just gained access to health care in the last year. We cannot afford to go backward.”
As States Newsroom reported, the critique of proposed Medicaid cuts from Ross and Crawford were similar to remarks delivered Wednesday at a Washington press conference by U.S. Senate Democrats. At that event, senators urged Americans throughout the country who rely on Medicaid for their or a family member’s health care to call up GOP members of Congress and urge them not to cut benefits.
Protect Our Care is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “making high-quality, affordable and equitable health care a right, and not a privilege,” according to its website.
Haywood Watson, a retired educator, spoke at Wednesday’s event about seeing firsthand the challenges that children face without healthcare.
“Medicaid helps children thrive in school and gives them a fair shot at success,” he said.
The program is also linked to higher high school graduation rates, better college attendance, and greater lifetime earnings. Without the funding, more children would fall through the cracks, he said.
In North Carolina, 41.2% of all children rely on Medicaid for health coverage, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Medicaid is not just a safety net,” Watson said. “It’s a lifeline.”