In North Carolina, the uninsured say Medicaid expansion will Be life-changing

After years of contentious battles amid a rural health crisis, the state voted to expand the program.

By Jackie Duda, for Capital & Main

When Mike Dawkins’ mother, Deanna, learned she had cervical cancer in 2018, it was already stage 4. Several years before, the special ed teacher from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, had been taking medication to treat a thyroid condition when she learned she was pregnant. She was covered by Medicaid throughout her pregnancy, which is state policy. 

“She carried the baby to term, but he was stillborn,” Dawkins explains. His mother was also diagnosed with fibroids, benign growths in her uterus. After delivery, Deanna no longer qualified for Medicaid and went without coverage. “She was in no shape to work,” Dawkins adds. His mom was deeply traumatized after the heartbreaking loss. Eventually, Deanna got a new job but didn’t qualify for insurance right away. It wasn’t long after that when she received the cancer diagnosis. Deanna Dawkins tragically died in 2020 at the age of 47, only two years after her diagnosis. When cancer is diagnosed early, the prognosis is much less grim, and patients can live longer and even go into remission. “Hers was just too far gone,” Dawkins explains.

Death, pain, and at-home treatments like over-the-counter medications and herbal medicine were something many North Carolinians suffered through living in a state that has rejected Medicaid expansion—until this year.