If North Carolina were to expand Medicaid eligibility for those under 138% FPL ($16,000 for an individual) who currently do not qualify for the program — 82% whom are able-bodied, childless adults — the federal government promises to fully fund the cost until 2017. At that point, states will take on some of the financing, maxing out at 10% starting in 2020.
In the short-term, this is a tempting deal for states to take — especially since President Barack Obama has recently offered non-expansion states an additional three years of full funding. To date, 31 states have already gone forward with expansion. Since it seems like more states are catching the “everyone’s doing it” mentality, why hasn’t North Carolina?
Read more from my latest on Forbes here.
