Recent editorials from North Carolina newspapers:

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Oct. 13

The Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer on an argument against Medicaid expansion in North Carolina:

State Sen. Jim Perry, a Republican from Lenoir County, was appointed to his seat only in January after Sen. Louis Pate resigned because of ill health, but the freshman senator has quickly taken on his party’s most daunting challenge - trying to make the Republicans’ irrational opposition to Medicaid expansion sound reasonable.

Perry gets credit for making a new argument. Unfortunately, it’s also the weakest. In a News & Observer op-ed last week, he said Medicaid expansion would be too much of a good thing. He said that’s because “adding hundreds of thousands of additional people to the Medicaid rolls will only further exacerbate the primary care shortage that already exists in the state.”

In other words, for a half-million of North Carolina’s newly insured working poor, there would be no room at the inn. Or rather, the doctor’s office. The only reasonable course, presumably, is to leave those people uninsured while the Republicans continue to do nothing to ease the primary care shortage.

For support Perry tried some rhetorical jujutsu. He cited a researcher who has explained to the legislature why Medicaid expansion would greatly benefit North Carolina. Perry noted that Dr. Leighton Ku, a professor and director of the Center for Health Policy Research at The George Washington University, speculated in a 2011 article - three years before the Affordable Care Act took effect - that expanding Medicaid would “create surging demand” that “could affect access to care not only for newly eligible beneficiaries but also for others who depend on a state’s existing supply of clinicians.”

But now, with five years of data on what actually happened in expansion states, Ku says his worry did not materialize. He said last week, “Studies repeatedly show that Medicaid expansion increased insurance coverage and improved access to care.”

Perry closes his piece by saying expansion’s backers are misleading the public: “It is disingenuous to only focus on the positive aspects of expansion while ignoring the very real risks.”

That would be true if there were “very real risks,” but what are they? The 36 expansion states seem happy with their choice.

Perry’s argument follows a series of hollow Republican warnings about Medicaid expansion.

First there was the rationale offered by then-Gov. Pat McCrory. He deemed North Carolina’s Medicaid program “broken” and said it would be irresponsible to add a half-million more people to the program. It turned out that the program is actually quite efficient compared to other states and has even come in under budget in recent years.

Next came the claim that the state couldn’t afford its 10 percent share of the cost of expansion. But under Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget proposal the state’s share would be covered by the hospitals and health care plans that would benefit from the surge in insured patients.

Finally, there’s the semi-conspiracy theory that the federal government might renege on its commitment to pay a minimum of 90 percent. Given that 36 states are now getting that level of payment, it’s unlikely that their representatives in Congress would approve cutting it back.

As GOP lawmakers gird the state against a hypothetical Medicaid cutback, real money is flowing away. North Carolina has missed out on billions of federal Medicaid dollars that would have helped struggling rural hospitals, generated jobs and strengthened the state’s economy.

The Republicans are out of excuses. It’s time to expand Medicaid.

Online: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/ and https://www.newsobserver.com/

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Oct. 12

The Winston-Salem Journal on conflicts with an energy policy proposal by Gov. Roy Cooper:

Gov. Roy Cooper deserves the praise he’s been getting for his enlightened energy policy.

Unlike some other high-profile politicians in Washington and Raleigh, Cooper believes the threat from climate change is real, and he’s trying to make North Carolina a leader in sensible clean-energy policy.

Too bad his Department of Revenue doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo.

In August, Cooper’s Department of Environmental Quality released its draft Clean Energy Plan, spelling out how the state hopes to promote cleaner, alternative energy and help combat the threats from climate change. North Carolina has had plenty of first-hand experience with those threats recently: Just look at what happened across much of the state when Hurricane Florence struck last year, or at the catastrophic damage from Hurricane Dorian that Ocracoke Island is still struggling with.

Cooper is a strong supporter of alternative energy sources that can help reduce greenhouse gases, and in the last few years, solar and wind energy projects have flourished in the state.

But a policy of Cooper’s Department of Revenue could have a chilling effect on that progress.

For about two decades, North Carolina used tax credits to encourage individuals and businesses to invest in renewable energy partnerships. Investors could get tax credits as high as 35 percent on money they invested in various clean energy projects. The credits had to be taken in five equal installments.

That particular program ended in 2016, but investors who had projects in progress could keep taking the credits until they had used them up. Some people involved in solar projects created partnerships not only with energy companies but also with banks, insurance companies and other institutions that essentially bought the tax credits.

Then last fall, the Revenue Department said it wasn’t going to allow the tax credits in some of those partnership deals that had been used to pay for solar energy projects.

Suddenly, investors who been important in the development of the state’s solar farms stood to lose as much as $500 million.

Cooper is known to be a strong supporter of alternative energy. That’s good. But even as his Department of Environmental Quality is pushing an ambitious plan that will need the cooperation of business, industry and the state legislature, his Department of Revenue is taking a stance that’s likely to scare away potential investors in future renewable energy projects.

The Revenue Department is relying on what critics call an extremely narrow interpretation of the law defining partnerships. The department said it follows the federal tax code, which doesn’t allow the sort of “pass through” arrangement the solar farms had used to finance their projects.

But North Carolina’s tax code can differ from the federal one when state laws differ from federal laws. By insisting on this narrow view, the Revenue Department is in effect making policy, a policy that’s not that of the governor and that also seems to go against the intent of the General Assembly and a recent state Supreme Court ruling involving the IRS code.

The Revenue Department is also unfairly changing the rules on investors who acted in good faith, in a move that will make it tough for future clean-energy projects here to find financial backing.

The Revenue Department is a part of Cooper’s administration just as surely as the Department of Environmental Quality is.

Cooper should do what it takes to get the Revenue Department on board with his ambitious clean energy proposals.

Online: https://www.journalnow.com/

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Oct. 11

The Henderson Times-News on efforts to halt the spread of e-cigarette use among young people in North Carolina:

Henderson County should do everything possible to halt the spread of e-cigarette use that’s endangering young people, The place to start is with parents and the community educating ourselves and kids about the dangers of products that were until recently seen as a “safer” alternative to smoking.

The Henderson County Board of Health is looking to get stricter policies in place to address what Board member Bill Lapsley described as an “urgent problem.”

“I’m really freaking out that if we don’t do something about this (quickly), we will be dealing with the next generation of substance abuse,” said Lapsley, who also serves on the Henderson County Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Rebecca McCall also attended and expressed her concerns.

State health officials say the best ways to combat the rising use of e-cigarettes, especially among younger populations, are 100% smoke-free policies, campaigns, price increases and cessation access.

Nearby counties including Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell and Watauga counties have 100 percent tobacco-free policies for government vehicles, government grounds, government-owned parks and recreation areas. Henderson County’s current policy doesn’t meet that standard because it allows for the county manager to make exceptions. Lapsley said he believes commissioners would vote to strengthen the policy.

That sounds like a good idea, but we should not kid ourselves to think it will be enough, as long as young people see vaping as a cool thing to do.

Reported cases of lung damage, illness and death have skyrocketed in recent months to more than 1,080 nationwide. That includes 42 cases and one death In North Carolina, according to Karen Caldwell, Regional Tobacco Control manager with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch. …

Two years ago, 37.4% of local ninth-graders reported having used e-cigarettes, and local high schoolers now use e-cigarettes more than all other tobacco products combined, Hope Rx Program Director Michelle Geiser reported. This is despite the fact Henderson County Public Schools already has a 100 percent ban on tobacco use, including vaping, for school properties and functions.

Most middle school students try vaping in an attempt to fit in, test the waters and try to see what they can get away with, Flat Rock Middle School Principal Melanie Adams said. Those are the same reasons earlier generations tried and got hooked on smoking. With high levels of nicotine, E-cigarettes can be just as addictive.

Scary statistics, alarmist reactions and prohibitions won’t be enough to stop young people from experimenting with vaping. Parents need to talk to their kids, and we all need to educate ourselves on the risks.

It took decades for our nation to fully address the dangers of smoking. For our kids’ sake, we can’t afford to make the same mistakes with vaping.

Online: https://www.blueridgenow.com/

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