Special to Iredell Free News

RALEIGH — The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services has begun mailing reminder notices to Medicaid beneficiaries that open enrollment for NC Medicaid Managed Care ends on May 14. The notices are being sent to encourage beneficiaries to choose a primary care provider and a health plan for their families’ care in preparation for the launch of NC Medicaid Managed Care on July 1.

Beneficiaries can enroll online, by calling the NC Medicaid Enrollment Broker Call Center at 833-870-5500 (TTY: 833-870-5588) or through the free NC Medicaid Managed Care mobile app available on Google Play or the App Store. They can also use the mail-in forms sent to them in the enrollment packet in March.

The NC Medicaid Enrollment Broker website offers a wide variety of tools and information to assist beneficiaries in choosing a primary care provider (PCP) and a health plan for their families’ care. Tools include frequently asked questions, a chat function, the Medicaid and NC Health Choice Provider and Health Plan Lookup Tool with four categories of search capabilities, advanced search based on specialty and the ability to view all providers within an organization/location and by practice name.

Open enrollment ends May 14.

Beneficiaries who enroll with a health plan during open enrollment will have the opportunity to select a PCP from a list of contracted providers. If they do not choose a health plan before May 14, one will be assigned to them to ensure continuous coverage of Medicaid health services. In the first 90 days after their coverage effective date, beneficiaries can change health plans for any reason. After that, unless there is a special reason, beneficiaries cannot change health plans until their next Medicaid recertification date.

For more information, beneficiaries can reference the enrollment packets that were mailed to them, visit the NC Medicaid Enrollment Broker website or call the NC Medicaid Enrollment Broker Call Center at 833-870-5500 (TTY: 833-870-5588).