North Carolina will expand Medicaid eligibility in December
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Medicaid expansion in North Carolina will go live on Dec. 1, Gov. Roy Cooper and N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley announced Monday.
Why it matters: When it does, expansion will make more than 600,000 of the state's poorest residents newly eligible for government health care coverage.
Catch up quick: State legislators had agreed to expand Medicaid access in the state months ago.
- But a long-delayed state budget — finally agreed to last week — pushed back its launch.
Details: On Dec. 1, around 300,000 North Carolian residents currently receiving Medicaid Family Planning benefits will be automatically enrolled in full health coverage, DHHS said.
- Adults aged 19 to 64 who are making up to 138% of the federal poverty level will also become eligible.
- For a single person that would be under $20,000 a year or under $34,000 for a family of three.
Between the lines: For more than a decade, Republican leaders in the state blocked an expansion of the Medicaid program in the state, which became a possibility under the Affordable Care Act.
- But last year, Senate leader Phil Berger reversed his position on expansion and began negotiating its passage.
- Ultimately, Medicaid expansion was included in this year's budget, which included many other priorities of Republicans in the General Assembly, instead of a standalone bill.
What they're saying: On Monday, Cooper said the budget deserved to be vetoed, but that he wouldn't do so because of Medicaid expansion.
- "That would take this bill out of my hands and send it back to this legislature where even more mischief could have put Medicaid expansion at risk," he said at a press conference.