North Carolina’s Medicaid program is now undergoing reform in which managed care companies and regional provider-led networks will compete to deliver care for patients within a defined budget. The idea is to achieve better budget predictability while improving the value of health care for the state’s most vulnerable citizens.
A recent legislative oversight committee presentation also reveals that North Carolina’s Medicaid inflation has moderated since the start of the 2015-16 fiscal year. The program is currently $181 million under budget as of December 2015, due to flat enrollment and lower utilization of services.
Given both situations, Medicaid expansion proponents are probably now thinking that it would be ridiculous for North Carolina to NOT buy into Obamacare’s key provision that reduces the number of uninsured. I’ve written before on the fiscal pain North Carolina would most likely experience if the legislature agreed to expand its Medicaid program. There’s also human costs involved. Read more about it in my latest piece in Forbes.
