Governor Roy Cooper signed off on legislation this week expanding Medicaid in North Carolina. The program will grow as soon as the next state budget is in place.

Patricia Beier, the Chief Executive Officer of WAGES calls it a “transformational” move, expanding health care options for hardworking families who would otherwise not have access to health insurance.
“One in six adults in Wayne County do not have health insurance.” Beier points out that one in twenty children in Wayne County also are uninsured. Beier says most of those affected will be families of working poor, including adults working multiple jobs to make ends meet.

Wages is a community action agency which works on early education and food insecurity issues.