May 2022 may be the first time in my 57 years that I’ve deeply appreciated the arrival of spring. Yes, spring officially began in March but it was still a […]
Download The Guide & Share This Link To Triple The Vote! —> bit.ly/NCvaluesvoter The 2020 elections could not be more significant. The outcome will set the course on climate change […]
The leaders of the denominational members of the North Carolina Council of Churches have sent a joint letter to senior elected leaders, Governor Cooper, Representative Moore, and Senator Berger, outlining […]
DUE TO THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED AND WILL BE HELD VIRTUALLY. Are you interested in learning more about the state of North Carolina when it […]
The period to enroll or renew health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) began on November 1st. Enrolling in a health insurance plan during this period will provide […]
The 2019 Long Session of the General Assembly is now in full swing. As a result of last November’s elections, Republicans maintained majorities in both Senate and House but lost […]
On February 27, 2019, North Carolinians from the mountains to the sea will join together in Raleigh to tell our lawmakers that we want to close the health insurance coverage […]
With every seat in the NC General Assembly being contested this year, the Nov 6, 2018 midterm will have effects lasting decades. Of the many issues at stake, recent polls […]
The Trump Administration recently issued new rules regarding the length of short-term health insurance plans, temporary options available to individuals until they are able to enroll in the Affordable Care […]
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees”~Isaiah 10:1 The North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) just finished its 2018 short session without passing legislation that would […]
If you do not have insurance through an employer or other group plan, the Affordable Care Act continues to provide an option. Though battered, up to and including, appeals to […]
Open enrollment to sign up for or renew health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) began November 1 and ends December 15, 2017. The ACA Marketplace allows individuals to […]
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be one of the most divisive laws passed in the United States in recent history. After several failed attempts by Congress this year […]
We find ourselves in a better place than we might have been when it comes to health care policy. Remaining ever vigilant and recognizing that there is still much work […]
The U.S. Senate’s vote this afternoon moves the debate forward to potentially repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. What that will look like is anybody’s guess. Senators Burr and […]
It appears that the U.S. Senate will vote today on some sort of health care action. What they’ll be voting on, however, is unclear even to some of them. This […]
No one seems completely clear on whether the Senate will vote next week on health care or what they will vote on if they do. That might be deliberate in […]
Yesterday, the Senate unveiled a revised version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act. According to a report from our friends at the North Carolina Justice Center the changes, and their […]
Would you be Surprised to know 97 percent of online pharmacies are illegitimate? The North Carolina Council of Churches has joined with Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and the Secretary […]
Late yesterday afternoon the Congressional Budget Office released their score of the Senate’s proposed health care plan and the numbers are extremely troubling. As our friends at the North Carolina […]
Members of the United States Senate have released their proposed health care plan, all 142 pages of the “Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017” developed in secrecy, with a score […]
As the Senate continues its secret deliberations on a health care plan that will effect all Americans, the potential impact on one of the most vulnerable groups in our society […]
The Council’s commitment to health care as a basic justice issue dates back decades. Significant progress toward health care for all was made with the Affordable Care Act, progress toward […]
For more than two decades, the NC Council of Churches has called for access to health care for all. The score from the Congressional Budget Office makes it undeniably clear […]
Plenty of analysis is already happening around the 2018 budget proposal out of the White House. The Washington Post provides two helpful graphics here and here. More is being written […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [For more information on bills, including committee referrals and re-referrals, texts of bills, procedural histories, and recorded votes, go to the General Assembly website […]
The passage of the American Health Care Act by the House of Representatives reflects a political choice on a life-or-death matter. If House members truly believed that this was the […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [The deadlines for the introduction of most new bills have now passed, and we are in Crossover Week. By the end of the week, […]
The public is opposed to efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act, but some members of the U.S. House of Representatives seem determined to forge ahead anyway. The latest version […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [For the latest committee referrals and re-referrals, go to the General Assembly website www.ncleg.net. There you can also find the texts of bills, procedural […]
Congressional leaders are still in their home states for their spring recess, but your voices are still important. Please attend town halls held by our elected leaders, and please request […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills BUDGET AND TAXES H 540, Teachers & State Employees Pay Raise, would give annual raises of $2,400 to teachers and other […]
North Carolina’s failure under Republican leadership to improve low-income residents’ access to health care via the Medicaid program has been like a persistent, throbbing pain in the state’s civic and […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Bills are being introduced at a rapid pace as the Senate’s deadline for new bills has passed and the House’s deadline on non-money approaches. […]
Every state legislator should be required to listen to the stories shared at a press conference organized this week by North Carolina advocates for health care. Anyone opposed to Medicaid […]
Thank you for every call, email, and letter to Congressional leaders that led to today’s decision to pull the American Health Care Act without a vote. Those committed to a […]
The budget blueprint for 2018 released by President Trump on Thursday cuts a wide swath through programs that serve women, people of color, those of low income (for poor women […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills CRIMINAL AND JUVENILE JUSTICE H 233, Ban the Box, would govern how state and local governments could use criminal histories in […]
Around the release of the alt-health plan currently making its way through Congress, several elected leaders have gone where elected leaders sometimes go – blaming the poor for being poor. […]
Despite evidence that the Affordable Care Act is more popular and more needed than ever, some Republicans in Congress have proceeded with partisan plans to repeal Obamacare while dismantling Medicaid […]
The political situation at the national level has occupied the time and attention of many faithful progressives. Each day has brought with it more reasons to be concerned for our […]
We are pleased to introduce the PHW Collaborative. Mostly, it is a change in the name, so if your congregation has been a part of the Partners in Health and […]
Partners in Health and Wholeness is hiring for two new regional coordinators, one to serve in the Charlotte area and the other in the Wilmington area. Both positions are open […]
The Council has added two new staffers in recent months. Andrew Hudgins is our Program Associate for Operations, and Michelle Peedin is our Program Associate for North Carolina Interfaith Power […]
The Affordable Care Act is still in place for 2017, and as our friends at the NC Justice Center remind us, nothing has changed for this year. Plans, prices, deadlines, […]
At another time in my life, I would not have spent most of Saturday occupying my tiny square of personal space in the heart of Washington DC, literally shoulder to […]
For many of us, these are troubling times as Donald Trump ascends to the nation’s highest office. We can hope for the best but it’s hard not to anticipate the […]
Groups at the state and national level continue to mobilize around concerns about President-Elect Donald Trump’s stated policy objectives and choices for cabinet posts. The NC NAACP, Interfaith Power & […]
On Friday, the House of Representatives voted to continue the process that could ultimately repeal the Affordable Care Act. Activists across the nation were already planning Day of Action events […]
The Council is hiring a full-time program associate to support Partners in Health and Wholeness and North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light. The full job description is posted below and […]
Looking ahead to 2017, there is much more work for the Council to do than we ever imagined. Please join us. Your financial support helps us continue what began in […]
We are living in unsettling times. Progress we once thought inviolable now feels threatened. One constant is the NC Council of Churches and our commitment to a more just, united, […]
Community leaders continue to work endlessly to save the Pungo Hospital in Belhaven. Please join clergy and those concerned for justice this Wednesday, December 21, 10 a.m., at the Wake […]
By Nina Voli, Duke Divinity School Intern Although the Affordable Care Act expanded health care coverage to millions of Americans, the Supreme Court ruled that state enrollment in Medicaid expansion was optional. […]
As the 2016 campaign season grinds along the final stretch toward Election Day on Nov. 8 – and with thousands of North Carolinians already having cast their ballots – we […]
The Partners in Health and Wholeness program originally had an October 31 deadline for our 2016 certification applications. However, due to the severity of Hurricane Matthew, we are extending our […]
Partners in Health and Wholeness (PHW) offers an annual certification program to congregations across the state. Churches participating in PHW actively demonstrate their commitment to improving their health as well […]
All children deserve to have a strong start in life and the chance to become a happy, healthy, productive adults. Infant mortality rates, or the number of infants who die […]
Why are health care premiums steadily going up? Gallup polls at the end of 2015 found that 74% of Americans say the amount they pay in premiums had gone up […]
As the General Assembly’s biennial short session continues, Medicaid expansion continues to be a hot issue for North Carolina. On May 25, concerned citizens gathered outside the General Assembly for Medicaid […]
Registration for 2016 Critical Issues Seminar workshops is now available online. If you have not yet registered, please use the form below to do so and include your selection for […]
Remarks delivered on March 30 by Volunteer Program Associate Sandy Irving at the Raleigh public hearing on Medicaid reform. As Medicaid reform is being planned, please consider including Medicaid expansion […]
Several public hearings have been planned around the state over the next few months to receive public input on the new plan for Medicaid reform. The plan would move Medicaid, the state […]
There is little dispute that Medicaid expansion stands to benefit more than 400,000 uninsured North Carolinians who currently fall in the coverage gap. What is more often disputed is the […]
The deadline for enrolling in the Health Insurance Marketplace came and went at the end of January. Though the ACA open enrollment period has passed, those experiencing certain life events – […]
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act. This law put in place comprehensive health insurance reforms that helped to make health care more affordable and accessible […]
The Council gained two new staff members in January. Meet Liz Millar and Chris Pernell below.
Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane. –Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in a speech to the Medical Committee for Human […]
To see this message in Spanish click here. Para ver este mensaje en español haga un clic aquí). At the North Carolina Council of Churches, we believe that access to […]
Health Care for All NC and the NC Council of Churches have received a grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. The $25,000 grant from the Trust will allow […]
The open enrollment period for the Healthcare Marketplace will open on November 1, and the Council’s Affordable Care Act resource page has been updated to provide helpful information. It is important to […]
These closing weeks, or days, of the General Assembly’s session are sometimes known as the silly season, when weirdness is the watchword at the maze-like Legislative Building on Raleigh’s Jones […]
A recent article in Raleigh’s News and Observer focused on the F-35 jet. The American Friends Service Committee calls this weapon system the “plane that ate the budget” and puts […]
The North Carolina Council of Churches celebrates today’s Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act. For decades, the Council has supported universal health care, and while the current version […]
The Council of Churches’ Legislative Seminar – its top-profile public event of the year – is meant to inform, and it’s meant to inspire. We’re not too bashful to say […]
Call it an exercise in futility? Well, no. There may not be a chance in the world that the General Assembly’s Republican chiefs will let the latest proposal to expand […]
Any of you who have already done your tax return for 2014 have discovered new questions about your health insurance status. For many of us, it’s just a matter of […]
The mission of the NC Council of Churches extends into many areas that highlight the links between faith and public policies. And of the various events and activities sponsored by […]
Join us on April 14 at Greenwood Forest Baptist Church in Cary for the Council’s 2015 Legislative Seminar. Held every two years, the Seminar equips people of faith with the […]
Growing up in a household where one of my parents is a community activist and the other is a teacher, my brother and I were strongly encouraged to use our […]
Our faiths call us to work for justice and show compassion for the “least of these.” Justice issues can also make such good economic sense that we cannot afford not […]
Apparently I scare Civitas. Maybe it’s my upbringing. I was raised by a single mom (my parents divorced when I was a toddler) who was fortunate to have a solid […]
The open enrollment period for those seeking coverage through the Affordable Care Act ends on February 15. As NC Policy Watch’s Chris Fitzsimon pointed out shortly after this latest round of […]
The Council’s 2014 Advent Devotional Guide is now available as a free download. Each year, Council staff take a social justice theme as a focus for these guides to be used during […]
The decision last year by the conservatives who control North Carolina’s state government not to expand the state’s Medicaid program has left an estimated half-million residents out in the cold […]
What do Tuesday’s elections mean for North Carolina? How can people of faith in the state continue to affect positive change? Join the staff of the North Carolina Council of […]
Health Care for All NC is continuing the important work for Medicaid expansion in North Carolina. The group is hoping concerned residents will add their names to a petition calling on […]
The deadline to register for the 2014 Faith and Health Summit has been extended until this Friday, October 3. More than 200 people have already reserved their space at this […]
A 12-year study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health found that Americans improved their eating habits slightly over the years, but that was not the case for America’s […]
I had the pleasure of serving on the North Carolina Institute of Medicine’s (NCIOM) Task Force on Rural Health, which was charged with creating a roadmap for better health in […]
Please join the North Carolina Council of Churches at the 2014 Faith and Health Summit, which will be held on Friday, October 10, 2014 at Ardmore Baptist Church in Winston-Salem (501 […]
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the […]
Meet one of our community leaders: Helen Livingston of Scotland County. I was able to get her to tell us a bit about herself and her community involvement. Joy: Ms. […]
As open enrollment for the health insurance marketplace comes to a close, so does my internship at the NC Council of Churches. In less than two weeks, I will complete […]
Differences in health currently exist between minorities and non-Hispanic whites in the U.S., with people of color suffering disproportionately from chronic diseases, many of which are preventable. During the month […]
Healthy North Carolina 2020 is a health improvement plan for our state. It addresses a wide range of issues that impact our health, such as tobacco use, physical activity and […]
The brain, one of the only organs not fully developed at birth, experiences 90% of its development before age eight. The 2000 days between birth and the start of kindergarten […]
According to Enroll America, If you attempted to enroll before the deadline for open enrollment on March 31, but you could not do so in spite of your best efforts, […]
The end of open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act, March 31, is only days away. Although the past five months have been full of their share of challenges, stories of […]
