GREENSBORO, N.C. — A historic moment for North Carolina.
After seven years of negotiating with lawmakers, Governor Cooper signed Medicaid expansion into law.
Monday, Cooper got the state a step closer to expanding health coverage to more than 600,000 North Carolinians.
Victoria Bartleson family is one of them.
With the smiles her family has in family photos it’s hard to believe Victoria's family is going through a hard time.
"I've watched her go through the most struggles. My other daughter works a couple of jobs," Bartleson said. "Because she works two jobs she's able to get insurance through the market place but should she have to work 2 jobs and literally wear herself down just to afford insurance?"
Victoria's oldest daughter Kylee works as well but hasn't been able to find affordable health insurance since December.
"I have a plethora of mental health illnesses and different chronic illnesses that I need to be able to see a doctor for," Kylee said.
She said seeing Governor Cooper sign Medicaid expansion into law is a huge relief.
It'll allow Kylee and thousands of others to become eligible for coverage, based solely on income.
"It would open doors for therapy for me which I have not had since December," Different things that should be a right but aren't," Kylee said.
UNCG political science professor Thomas Little said a mix of economics and politics is why that right took so long to become reality.
"I don't think the republicans wanted Cooper to have a victory going into the 2020 election. I think also there is a natural opposition to increasing spending saying this is federal money, we get used to it we expand and the feds pull the money," Little said. "For the republicans, that's always an issue."
It could still be a while before Medicaid actually expands.
It's now tied to the state budget, which means state lawmakers must approve the budget before its official.
"They won't get a budget next month," Little said. "It will probably go into late June July."
Income is the only factor to be eligible.
The threshold is about $20,000 for a single person and $41,000 for a family of four.
The numbers vary depending on where you live.