In your face cabinet pick by Gov. Roy Cooper for DHHS secretary— Dr. Mandy Cohen, whose previous job was—hold on —as an Obamacare administrator— and arguably not a very good one.
First up for Dr. Cohen and Gov. Cooper—state audit finds problems in Mecklenburg, Wake and Guilford counties—in both accuracy and timeliness problems when processing Medicaid applications. This is not news:
For example, a July 2014 report determined that current inefficiencies are costing the state at least $9.6 million in annual federal funding.
In April 2016, a legislative staff report determined that most counties were struggling to meet deadlines for timely processing of Medicaid eligibility applications, particularly food stamps.
In August 2016, a state audit determined that the DHHS’ practice of leaning significantly on no-bid contracts for services did not protect state interests in many instances.
Indeed the NC FAST and NC Tracks programs put in place by Dr. Aldona Vos are cited as the reason for counties’ problems processing Medicaid applications. But the bottom line is they’re barely meeting the demand as it is, so does really make sense to expand Medicaid, as Cooper announced he would unilaterally do?