BY REP. TODD CARVER

I have received numerous emails from constituents over the past couple of weeks who are concerned about the NC Medicaid funding cuts set to take place on October 1. I want to take a few moments to explain the situation. As with most of my articles, the intent is to help you make sense of a complicated budgeting issue which has been distorted by several of the parties involved.

At the end of our full-time session, at the end of June, the N.C. House of Representatives and the Senate passed a Medicaid funding package. This was done because we were sure there wouldn’t be a budget adopted by the July 1 deadline and the programs needed funding to continue operations. We appropriated $600 million to ensure the programs would continue until a budget was adopted, or another appropriation could be made. We knew that another sum of money would be needed because the request from Department of Health and Human Services was for just short of $820 million. We simply didn’t want to give all of the money in one payment to ensure it was spent appropriately with the proper oversight.

Gov. Josh Stein’s office saw this appropriation shortfall in a different way. They recognized the gap in funding and decided to cut reimbursement rates to providers effective October 1. These cuts will result in doctors receiving 2 to 10% reduced reimbursement rates from the state Medicaid program. The governor’s position was simply that if we didn’t get the full amount requested, we will be required to make cuts to sustain the program. I could understand this argument if I hadn’t been in the room when the Speaker of the House very clearly said we will need to come back and put more money into this program in the spring if a budget is not adopted.

Next, the Senate sent over a measure they had adopted which included money for Medicaid and money for a children’s hospital project. In the Senate version of the funding bill the two priorities are intertwined. The story about the children’s hospital project is important but needs an article all to itself. The House leadership was determined to adopt a full Medicaid funding measure that was a standalone bill. You will sometimes hear this referred to as a “clean” bill, meaning it doesn’t have additional strings attached.

Senate Bill 403 was passed by the House last week and sent to the Senate for action. SB 403 appropriates an additional $192 million to keep the Medicaid program fully funded. If this bill were to be adopted by the Senate, it would fully fund the state’s Medicaid program under the most recent estimates of costs for this year.

I hope that Gov. Stein will reconsider his actions in cutting the reimbursement rates. This action is not needed and will cause harm to our medical systems and patients who depend on Medicaid. We are on an unsustainable path with the Medicaid program, especially with the changes coming down from the Federal government. Those changes have not even been addressed in this summary of how we got here. There will certainly be more to come on this issue, and I will do my best to keep you informed about the ever-changing situation.

If I can ever help you or your family, please reach out and let me know how. 

Rep. Todd Carver represents the 95th District in the N.C. House. Email him at todd.carver@ncleg.gov.