RALEIGH, N.C.- – Health Care Providers from around the state of North Carolina said Wednesday they oppose Senate Bill 202.

The current bill has passed the House and will now move to the State Senate for final review. According to the group, if this bill completely passes with the existing language, not only do providers across the State of North Carolina stand to lose their businesses, but consumers who are being served by these agencies will be forced to seek other sources of support.

“We anticipated something beyond rhetoric and had new hopes of inclusion”, says Tanya Wiley, spokesperson for the NC Health Care Providers Alliance. “Little did we know, the state would allow public incentives to chart their own course and take the lead in efforts to their own demise.”

NC State Representatives Earline Parmon (Forsyth County – District 72) and Beverly Earle (Mecklenburg County – District 101) have been monitoring the situation with Providers for close to two years.

“We firmly believe that in order to facilitate effective growth and development we must bridge the economic divide between minority, small and non-minority owned businesses. Approximately 78 percent of our providers in North Carolina are minority owned businesses and as such it is of great concern that budget cuts will ultimately force many of these businesses to close their doors,” said Representative Parmon.

She continued, “I believe there are many things we can do to extend opportunities to the most underutilized businesses in our state, and since the numbers of providers is so great, we can start there.”

Alliance providers will be visiting with State Senators throughout the day today in an effort to send a clear message that they will not stop until the State has heard their voices.

The NC Health Care Providers Alliance was established in 2008 to focus on developing partnerships with organizations to implement new ways to support providers and professionals with effective methods for serving the community.