(RALEIGH) -- As the budget "super committee" looks at cuts to federal entitlement programs, health advocates say they are concerned that Medicaid cuts could hurt many in the Tar Heel State. Dr. Jill Ohar with the leadership council of the American Lung Association in North Carolina said this includes almost 230,000 North Carolinians with chronic lung diseases.

"These cuts do not make the health care needs of people who have these chronic diseases go away," said Ohar. "They are still there. What these cuts do, they shift costs.  They shift costs to insurers. They shift costs to hospitals.  They shift costs to charities, because we're not going to turn people with these disorders away."

The advocacy group Families USA released statistics showing that just over 109,000 North Carolinians on Medicaid receive treatment for diabetes, including 5,360 children. An estimated 283,550 North Carolinians depend on Medicaid for treatment of heart disease or stroke, including 25,280 children, 180,550 adults and 77,730 seniors.