Special to IFN
RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper and N.C. Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley celebrated the one-year anniversary of Medicaid expansion in North Carolina by announcing that nearly 600,000 North Carolinians, including many of whom live in rural counties, have enrolled.
The governor and secretary spoke at ECU Health in Greenville and were joined by ECU Health CEO Dr. Mike Waldrum, Dr. Karen Coward and several beneficiaries who have been able to get care thanks to Medicaid expansion.
“For the last eight years, we’ve worked hard to lead our state with one health care innovation after another that will leave lasting impacts on generations of North Carolinians to come,” Cooper said. “Through expanding Medicaid that will extend health care coverage to almost 600,000 people, relieving more than $4 billion in medical debt for two million North Carolinians and charting a new way forward in mental health care, we have delivered on our promise of a healthier North Carolina.”
“In the last year, hundreds of thousands of people have finally been able to afford going to the doctor, a dentist, get glasses, and fill their prescriptions,” Kinsley added. “And, most of all, they’ve had the peace of mind that a health emergency won’t bankrupt them and their families — something to be grateful for this holiday season.”
After Cooper took office, he set out a mission statement to build a North Carolina where people were better educated, healthier, and had more money in their pockets to live lives of purpose and abundance. Over the past eight years, North Carolina has made tremendous progress on improving the health of its people including by expanding Medicaid, relieving medical debt and charting new and innovative ways to deliver care to people.
Major accomplishments include:
EXPANDING MEDICAID COVERAGE TO ALMOST 600,000 PEOPLE
After a decade of work, Medicaid expansion launched in North Carolina on December 1, 2023. Thanks to months of planning prior to launch, the state was able immediately to enroll nearly 300,000 people who had been receiving Medicaid Family Planning benefits. At the time of launch, it was estimated that it would take two years to enroll 600,000 newly eligible individuals and families into Medicaid.
North Carolina has reached nearly 600,000 enrolled in just one year, half the time that was projected.
In the past year since Medicaid expansion launched in North Carolina:
♦ 3.8 million prescriptions were filled by Medicaid expansion enrollees for heart health, diabetes, seizures and other illnesses.
♦ $58 million in claims for dental services have been covered by Medicaid for the expansion population.
♦ 210,953-plus members of rural communities, or more than one in three of all newly eligible people, gained access to health coverage through Medicaid.
RELIEVED $4 BILLION IN BURDENSOME MEDICAL DEBT FOR 2 MILLION NORTH CAROLINIANS
After enacting Medicaid expansion, it became clear that many North Carolinians were still suffering under the burden of medical debt. Cooper and NCDHHS worked with hospitals and other stakeholders to create a first-of-its-kind medical debt relief program that will relieve $4 billion in existing medical debt for nearly 2 million of low- and middle-income North Carolinians and ease the burden of medical debt in the future.
The program offers enhanced Medicaid payments from the federal government in exchange for relieving certain medical debt. All of the state’s 99 eligible hospitals have signed on to the state’s innovative plan, and states across the country can now look to North Carolina for a roadmap on how to help.
SECURED OVER $835 MILLION FOR A NEW VISION OF MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT AND RESOURCES
During his two terms, Cooper has prioritized investing in mental health resources and support. Through Medicaid expansion, the governor and NCDHHS secured a transformative $835 million investment in mental and behavioral health to make it possible for more North Carolinians to receive care when and where they need it.
This monumental investment will help ensure that people’s behavioral health needs are better met by funding services for people experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis, helping individuals with behavioral health conditions avoid incarceration, helping children with complex needs and supports for families and strengthening the behavioral health workforce.
CREATED THE HEALTHY OPPORTUNITIES PILOTS PROGRAM TO SUPPORT AND INVEST IN NON-MEDICAL SUPPORT FOR HIGH-NEEDS NORTH CAROLINIANS ON MEDICAID
In 2022, Cooper and NCDHHS launched the Healthy Opportunities Pilots, a first-in-the-nation effort to recognize that health doesn’t just happen at the doctor’s office or in a hospital. The program invests in non-medical support related to housing, food, transportation and more for high-needs Medicaid recipients.
Early findings on this innovative program show that it works by saving money and keeping people healthier. Participants saw decreased rates of hospitalization and significantly lower health care spending. Two years into the pilot, the state is spending about $85 less in medical costs per beneficiary per month.