To the Editor:

Vic Drummond’s recent letter about “The Economic and Employment Costs of Not Expanding Medicaid in NC.” was just opinion and left-wing propaganda and not fact at all.  

It seemed apparent that Drummond has not read the detailed 35-page economic analyses by Leighton Ku, PhD. Dr. Ku has conducted research and analysis regarding heath care at national and state levels for more than 20 years. He has a PhD in health policy from Boston University and a masters in public health from University of California at Berkley.   

All of the factual information used in his analyses (like number of uninsured, or number presently enrolled in Medicaid in N.C.) are from multiple public sources that are readily confirmable. He and his economic experts used scientifically verified economic software developed by Regional Economic Model Inc. (REMI) to arrive at the total economic impact of Medicaid expansion on the state.  

Of course all scientists and economists use computers to assist in their analyses, but Drummond feels just because they use computer analysis their results are not “factual.” This particular software has been used in thousands of national economic studies including fiscal analyses for the N.C. General Assembly (hardly a left-wing propaganda machine). Articles about REMI’s model equations and research findings have been published in scholarly journals such as the Ameri-can Economic Review, Review of Economic Statistics, Journal of Regional Science, and International Regional Science Review.

This state can still pass Medicaid expansion in 2015 to begin in 2016. If it does not, the economic impact from 2016 to 2020 will be devastating: lost federal funding will total $21 billion; total jobs lost will be 43,000; business activity lost $21.5 billion; N.C. state revenue lost will be $862 million; and county tax revenue lost will be $161 million.  

Drummond claims these analyses and factual information are not accurate and true, but I have not heard a single analysis by other economists that contradict the factual information or the economic projections presented in this study. If you still reject this information, look at what has already happened in a Republican-controlled state, Arkansas, that actually expanded Medicaid in 2014. Their uninsured rate dropped from 22.5 percent to 12.4 percent, uncompensated care at hospitals decreased by $69 million in just the first 6 months of 2014, and the number of uninsured patients hospitalized fell by 47 percent.

I challenge Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin; Rep. Roger West, R-Marble; and Vic Drummond to do two things:

• Read the actual study (http://www.wral.com/asset/news/state/nccapitol/2014/12/17/14288878/158632-Expanding_Medicaid_in_North_Carolina_12-15-14_EMB_r.pdf) and report to readers of this newspaper the precise, actual factual information that is wrong in the study and give us the correct information.

• Spend two hours per month for the next six months volunteering at the Franklin Community Care Clinic and talk to real, hard-working people who can only afford the very limited medical services offered by this volunteer run clinic rather than the comprehensive medical care provided by Medicaid. Then tell us readers whether or not you believe these people deserve adequate health care for their families.

Ed Morris, MD, PhD

Volunteer and Board Member Franklin Community Care Clinic since 2010