Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The number of North Carolina residents enrolled in Medicaid under the state’s new coverage for low-income adults is nearing 300,000 in the first weeks of the program, the state Department of Health and Human Services says.
Medicaid expansion began Dec. 1 in North Carolina, after Republican legislators and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper agreed to legislation this year that accepted the coverage offered to states through the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
The expansion coverage applies to people ages 19-64 who make too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid but not enough to benefit much from government-subsidized private insurance.
As of Dec. 12, the latest figures available from DHHS, there were 280,000 expansion enrollees. Nearly 273,000 were enrolled and covered by expansion on Dec. 1, with the first-day total largely coming from people who were already receiving Medicaid for family-planning coverage and were moved automatically through expansion for broader medical care.
North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley, right, speaks while Gov. Roy Cooper listens at an Executive Mansion news conference in Raleigh, N.C., on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Kinsley and Cooper announced that North Carolina would launch Medicaid expansion coverage on Dec. 1. Expansion will be able to start because Cooper said he’ll let a state budget bill sent by the General Assembly last week to his desk become law without his signature. (AP Photo/Gary D. Robertson)
As the start date for expansion neared, the Cooper administration estimated that close to 300,000 would be enrolled on day one, with ultimately 600,000 receiving coverage over time.
The data comes as DHHS unveiled on Wednesday an online dashboard that will update monthly expansion enrollment and demographic and health care trends. For example, the agency says, the dashboard shows the highest percentages of adults 19-64 now covered by Medicaid are in four rural counties — Anson, Edgecombe, Richmond and Robeson.
DHHS also said more than 84,000 people had applied for Medicaid through Dec. 15, with county social service officials processing the application. And 49,000 prescriptions have been filled for expansion enrollees as of Dec. 12.
“Hundreds of people each day are gaining health care coverage and getting the care they need,” state health Secretary Kody Kinsley said in a news release. “Our work continues with state and community partners to support enrollment efforts to ensure as many people as possible can get covered.”
The state continues to operate an online dashboard that keeps track of overall Medicaid enrollment, which was about 2.85 million people as of November.
North Carolina was the 40th state, along with the District of Columbia, to implement Medicaid expansion.
Related Stories
‹
NC Governor Visits Chapel Hill to Rollout Medicaid Coverage of Over-the-Counter Birth ControlGovernor Roy Cooper joined North Carolina health officials in a Chapel Hill Walgreens pharmacy to make the announcement on Wednesday.
North Carolina's Medicaid Expansion Program has Enrolled 500,000 People in Just 7 MonthsNorth Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper held a news conference on Friday to tout the enrollment number as a significant milestone for the program.
Biden and Harris Argue That Democrats Will Preserve Health Care and Republicans Would Take It AwayNorth Carolina was President Joe Biden's final stop on a tour of battleground states, and he touted his healthcare record at Tuesday's event.
North Carolina Medicaid Expansion Still Set for Dec. 1 Start as Federal Regulators Give Final OKWritten by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Federal regulators have given their final approval for North Carolina to begin offering Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults on Dec. 1, state health officials announced on Friday. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told the state in a letter Thursday that changes to North Carolina’s Medicaid program to provide […]
North Carolina to Launch Medicaid Expansion on Dec. 1Medicaid expansion will launch December 1 in North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper announced on Monday — something he's sought for seven years.
Medicaid Expansion To Begin Soon in North Carolina as Governor Decides To Let Budget Bill Become LawWritten by GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced Friday he would let the state budget bill coming to his desk become law without his signature, opening the way for Medicaid coverage for 600,000 low-income adults, with some receiving the government health insurance within weeks. The Democratic governor unveiled his decision on the two-year spending […]
Medicaid Expansion Won't Begin in North Carolina on Oct. 1 Because There's Still No Final BudgetWritten by GARY D. ROBERTSON With the state budget’s passage now two months late, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration announced Monday that it can’t start the implementation of Medicaid expansion to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults in the early fall as it had wanted. State Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley said that […]
N. Carolina Governor Signs Medicaid Expansion Bill Into LawWritten by GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday signed a Medicaid expansion law that was a decade in the making and gives the Democrat a legacy-setting victory, although one significant hurdle remains before coverage can be implemented, thanks to a Republican-backed provision. At an Executive Mansion ceremony attended by hundreds, Cooper […]
N. Carolina Legislators Reach Medicaid Expansion DealWritten by GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina legislative leaders announced Thursday an agreement to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults through the Affordable Care Act. The deal, which likely won’t be voted on until later this month, marks a milestone for Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed expansion for a decade […]
Cooper Administration Delivers NC Medicaid Expansion PitchWritten by GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration made perhaps its most promising pitch yet to legislators on Tuesday to expand Medicaid, with a key health regulator calling it more advantageous than ever to cover hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults. Addressing a House-Senate committee created specifically to study expansion, state Medicaid director […]
›
