Axios

Republican leaders of North Carolina's state legislature on Thursday reached an agreement on how to expand the state's Medicaid program, after years of blocking the policy, Axios' Lucille Sherman writes.

• Negotiations between the two chambers stalled last summer over what to include in a Medicaid expansion bill, in part because of the North Carolina Hospital Association's resistance to regulatory provisions in one version of the legislation.

Walmart Health is eyeing more Medicare Advantage business as it prepares to nearly double the footprint of its in-store clinics.

Driving the news: The big retailer said Thursday it's planning to add 28 additional health clinics — which offer primary care, behavioral health services, vision checks and dental care within select Walmart stores —  in 2024.

A federal crackdown on overprescribing controlled substances via telehealth is causing confusion and consternation in the behavioral health community over an in-person prescribing requirement for drugs used to treat pain and opioid use disorder.

Why it matters: Child care, transportation and other hurdles can make in-person requirements "an extremely high hurdle" for patients with opioid use disorder, said David Deyhimy, medical director of an addiction treatment clinic in Orange County, California.

A group closely aligned with House Republican leadership is spending over $2 million to accuse President Biden of being the one who truly wants to cut Medicare, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: It's some of the earliest spending of the 2024 election cycle and signals that Republicans plan to go on offense, rather than just defend against Biden's claims that the GOP wants to slice into Medicare and Social Security.