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Bev Perdue's goal is to make North Carolina the healthiest state in America. While progress has been made, much more remains to be done – particularly in making insurance more affordable and accessible to North Carolina's families and small businesses.
During her time as the Senate's chief budget writer and Chair of the Health and Wellness Trust Fund, North Carolina has been moving in the right direction. Thousands more children are getting much needed health insurance…34,000 fewer children in North Carolina are smoking today…our state is making significant investments in cancer research…and today, those who are very sick and denied insurance can finally obtain health care through our new high-risk insurance pool.
As Governor, Bev will fight for more coverage for uninsured families, more affordable private insurance for middle class families, and preventive health care for everyone to reduce costs across the board. And while Bev has been instrumental in passing new initiatives to make health care accessible to thousands more uninsured children, she knows that the only way to achieve universal coverage for children is to make coverage affordable to their parents.
BUILDING A NEW NORTH CAROLINA
The first step is to expand NC Kids Care to cover all children up to 300% of the federal poverty level. But the biggest step towards universal coverage for children is by covering their parents. Research shows that a crucial step in enrolling more eligible children in health care programs is by getting their parents covered first. As Governor, Bev Perdue will work to cover working parents up to the 200% of poverty level. Additionally, Bev will help make private insurance more affordable for middle-class working families, especially employees of small business.
We need to get serious about the goal of quality health care for all North Carolinians – and that must include mental health care. Bev’s priorities in the arena of mental health reform will be to extend the Community Care model to mental health; establish a safety-net for those in need; and to overhaul the system to focus on outcomes.
Too many of our rural hospitals are operating on such tight budgets that they cannot gain financing for critical modernization investments. At the same time, these hospitals are vital to the health of local communities. In many cases, no other access to critical care exists for over fifty miles.
Rural HOPE is a public-private partnership that will enable rural hospitals to invest in new technologies like updated patient information systems and modern equipment for the treatment of critical illnesses like MRIs and CT scans. Rural HOPE will also enable hospitals to expand and modernize their aging capital facilities. Such investments will help our rural hospitals become more efficient and at the same time provide better care for their communities.
Medical and scientific experts have confirmed that stem cell research has the extraordinary potential to cure diseases ranging from Parkinson’s, liver disease and diabetes to repairing brain and spinal cord damage. As our next Governor, Bev will bring fresh leadership to legislative efforts on behalf of stem cell research funding.
Bev's Record on Health Care
- Bev is a former community hospital administrator focused on senior care.
- As Chair of the Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission, Bev helped create a prescription drug benefit for low-income seniors that the NC AARP called the “best in the nation.”
- As a leader in the State Senate Perdue helped start NC’s landmark Children’s Health insurance program. NC Health Choice provides over 115,000 kids with medical coverage – and added another 7,300 children this year.
- Perdue worked with healthcare advocates across the state to get the Senate to pass the landmark NC Kids Care legislation that will begin to expand our state’s coverage to include the 38,000 uninsured children from families with incomes between 200% and 300% of poverty.
- Bev Perdue oversaw initiatives that decreased the number of teens smoking to the lowest recorded levels in history. Under Bev’s leadership 34,000 fewer kids are smoking that 6 years ago and starting this fall 100% of North Carolina’s school districts will be 100% tobacco-free.
- Perdue led the state’s efforts to help kids eat healthier and be more physically active.
- As Chair of the NC Health and Wellness Trust, Perdue began a program to address health disparities in care for underserved communities such as rural communities, women, and minorities.
- As Chair of the Health and Wellness Trust Fund, Perdue secured funding of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at UNC-Chapel Hill to ensure North Carolina continues to have world-class cancer research.
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