Local Limelight with Wake County Rep. Mike Schietzelt
North Carolina state Rep. Mike Schietzelt is one of just two Republicans who represent Wake County in the General Assembly.
Why it matters: Schietzelt, a Marine Corps veteran and attorney, is serving his first term in House District 35, which stretches across much of the northern part of the county.
We talked with Schietzelt for our latest Local Limelight conversation. The Q&A has been edited for Smart Brevity.
What made you decide to run for office? After being recruited by Republican House leadership, "I felt like I was a good fit for my district. I'm not an overwhelmingly ideological person," Schietzelt said.
"I don't feel like there are a lot of people advocating the needs for our suburbs."
🍖 Favorite place to eat in the Triangle? Backyard BBQ Pit and Hog Heaven Bar-B-Q, both in Durham.
🛣️ What do you think the Triangle is missing? A freeway connecting Raleigh to Wake Forest.
"There is a huge missed opportunity right now" with the state "dragging its feet" on expanding U.S. 1, Schietzelt said.
"Now we're talking about converting it into a toll road, which would unfortunately cut us off from some of the best opportunities we have in terms of economic growth."
💡 What's your first read in the morning? The Bible, or emails.
📚 Last great book you read? Ralph Ketcham's biography of James Madison and " Confident Pluralism" by John Inazu.
🎧 Go-to podcast? " Do Politics Better" or " Tying It Together" with Tim Boyum.
🎣 Favorite place to go for a long weekend? Banner Elk, or somewhere "I can sit around without Wi-Fi" to do a little hiking and fishing.
🐶 Do you have any pets? Atlas, who turns 14 in a few weeks.
🤓 How did you end up in the Triangle? Duke University's law school, which he attended after years of traveling the country as a professional trumpet player.
✍️ If you could pass any law, what would it be? Ratifying the Convention of States.
His non-serious answer: Everyone should watch the 1994 film "PCU," a comedy on political correctness.
⛳️ What's something you're looking forward to, unrelated to politics or your work? "Sleeping at some point," Schietzelt said.
But really: Getting out to play a round of golf.
🥹 How do you unplug at the end of the day? Putting the kids (he has four) to sleep.
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The 2017 repeal effort was aimed at fulfilling Mr. Trump's promises from his first presidential campaign. That's not the case now. The health policy provisions of the House bill instead would help to offset the cost of extending about $4 trillion in tax cuts that skew toward wealthier Americans. The Medicaid changes in the bill would reduce federal spending on the program by about $700 billion over 10 years. CBO has not yet issued an estimate of how much the ACA provisions would save. Timothy McBride, a health economist at Washington University in St. Louis, said Republican efforts to make it harder for what they term "able-bodied" adults to get Medicaid is code for scaling back Obamacare. The ACA's Medicaid expansion has been adopted by 40 states and Washington, D.C. The House bill's work requirement and added eligibility checks are intended to drive off Medicaid enrollees who Republicans believe never should have been on the program, McBride said. Congress approved the ACA in 2010 with no Republican votes. Most adult Medicaid enrollees under 65 are already working, studies show. Imposing requirements that people prove they're working, or that they're exempt from having to work, to stay on Medicaid will lead to some people losing coverage simply because they don't fill out paperwork, researchers say. Manatt Health estimates that about 30% of people added to Medicaid through the ACA expansion would lose coverage, or about 7 million people, said Jocelyn Guyer, senior managing director of the consulting firm. The bill also would make it harder for people enrolled under Medicaid expansions to get care, because it requires states to charge copayments of up to $35 for some specialist services for those with incomes above the federal poverty level, which is $15,650 for an individual in 2025. Today, copayments are rare in Medicaid, and when states charge them, they're typically nominal, usually under $10. Studies show cost sharing in Medicaid leads to worse access to care among beneficiaries. Christopher Pope, a senior fellow with the conservative Manhattan Institute, acknowledged that some people will lose coverage but rejected the notion that the GOP bill amounts to a full-on assault on the ACA. He questioned the coverage reductions forecast by the CBO, saying the agency often struggles to accurately predict how states will react to changes in law. He said that some states may make it easy for enrollees to satisfy new work requirements, reducing coverage losses. By comparison, Pope said, the ACA repeal effort from Mr. Trump's first term a decade ago would have ended the entire Medicaid expansion. "This bill does nothing to stop the top features of Obamacare," Pope said. But McBride said that while the number of people losing health insurance under the GOP bill is predicted to be less than the 2017 estimates, it would still eliminate about half the ACA's coverage gains, which brought the U.S. uninsured rate to historical lows. "It would take us backwards," he said. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
