If Medicaid is designed to protect poor people, why does it hurt
poor counties? Those counties that have been hardest hit by the loss of
textile mills and other large employers face a double whammy because
they also must pay 15% of the state’s share of Medicaid costs. Lose a
mill, lose tax revenue but increase the number of people on Medicaid in
the county and the amount the county has to pay.
The state hasn’t helped as it has made more people eligible for Medicaid. My new Spotlight
calls for the state to end this unique burden on North Carolina
counties. Perhaps if the state did this, the governor would try harder
to control cost, or to reform the program as South Carolina, Florida, Idaho, and even Vermont are trying.
