Special to IFN

RALEIGH — The North Carolina House and Senate reached an agreement Tuesday to fund the state’s Medicaid rebase for the remainder of the fiscal year while restoring accountability to one of North Carolina’s largest and fastest-growing programs.

The legislation, House Bill 696, invests $319 million to support the current-year rebase while aggressively rooting out Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse.

HB 696 reinforces responsible use of taxpayer dollars through a series of reforms, including:

♦ More frequent eligibility reviews, changing Medicaid eligibility monitoring from quarterly to monthly.
♦ Stronger documentation standards, barring self-attestation as the only evidence of eligibility.
♦ Citizenship and immigration verification for applicants and their beneficiaries during eligibility determinations and redeterminations.
♦ Increased oversight, requiring the State Auditor to conduct a comprehensive audit of the state’s Medicaid program and related workforce programs.
♦ Annual transparency reporting, mandating the NC DHHS to report on efforts to identify and address waste, fraud, and abuse.
♦ Improved guardrails for ABA therapy, ensuring children with autism receive high-quality care while promoting responsible use of Medicaid resources.
♦ Directing the NC DHHS to create a Medicaid integrity and efficiency plan to actively reduce administrative burdens and identify cost-saving opportunities.

“Medicaid should serve the people who truly need it, and this bill makes sure that happens. After Gov. Stein and his administration let costs run wild, we’re tightening things up by adding common-sense guardrails that cut down on waste, fraud, and abuse in the program,” Speaker Destin Hall said. “North Carolina taxpayers deserve confidence that their money is being spent wisely, and patients deserve a system that prioritizes care for those who depend on it the most.”

The bill also provides critical needs funding for FY 2025-26, including:

♦ $80 million non-recurring for the NC Department of Adult Correction.
♦ $13.1 million recurring and $8.5 million non-recurring for the NC Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
♦ $10 million recurring and $1 million non-recurring for the NC Scholarship for Children of Wartime Veterans.
♦ $2.5 million recurring and $1.2 million non-recurring funds for the NC State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

The House is expected to take up the bill for a final vote as soon as Wednesday.