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Raleigh – The western North Carolina legislative delegation brought home Medicaid expansion and just shy of $11.35 million in state funding to Cherokee County this year.
Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Franklin), who spoke with the Rotary Club of Murphy on Monday, reported $11.35 million in funding for Cherokee County, including for Tri-County Community College to expand a cultural and historical education facility and establish new heavy equipment operator program, $3.35 million to Cherokee County for the construction of a new seniors/veterans services center, $787,000 to the Town of Andrews for water/sewer upgrades and $400,000 to the Town of Murphy for water/sewer upgrades.
Other western North Carolina area expenditures include $10 million to Southwestern Community College for the construction of a regional indoor firearms training facility, $400,000 to the Town of Franklin for capital costs and equipment associated with the fire substation construction project, $352,000 to Macon County for general projects, $5 million to the Town of Highlands to complete dredging and restoration of Mirror Lake, $1 million for Clay County Arena/Farmers Market, $250,000 for the Town of Hayesville for project “Hayesville Moves,” $2 million for continued construction of new Graham County Justice Center and $1.395 million for the Town of Robbinsville for water/sewer upgrades.
Meanwhile, Gov. Roy Cooper and N.C. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley announced that DHHS will launch Medicaid expansion on Dec. 1, giving more than 600,000 North Carolinians access to health care.
“Finally expanding Medicaid in North Carolina is a monumental achievement that will extend health insurance to people who need it,” Cooper said in a release. “This means better health care, including those with mental health and substance use disorders, hope for rural hospitals struggling to stay open and billions of dollars for our economy. This action is long overdue, and we aren’t wasting a moment in beginning enrollment in North Carolina.”
Cooper announced that he would allow the state budget passed by the General Assembly to become law. He immediately directed DHHS to begin the process to start Medicaid expansion in North Carolina.
Even while the budget stalled in the General Assembly, DHHS worked with county and community partners to be ready to launch so people could get the care they desperately needed as soon as possible. On Friday, Cooper and Kinsley spoke with federal leaders of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services about the urgent need to begin enrollment.
“This work will yield results,” Cooper said.
On Dec. 1, the department anticipates about 300,000 eligible people receiving Medicaid Family Planning benefits will automatically be enrolled in full health-care coverage.
“More than 600,000 people in North Carolina will get the health-care coverage they have been waiting for,” Kinsley said. “Medicaid expansion is the most significant investment in the health of North Carolina in decades, and represents billions of dollars of investment each year that helps keep clinics, providers and hospital doors open.”
Medicaid expansion increases the eligible population to adults ages 19-64 who have incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. For example, expansion gives health-care coverage to single individuals making under $20,000 a year.
Likewise, a family of three earning under $34,000 combined will now be eligible. Beneficiaries will get care the same way as existing Medicaid beneficiaries and be eligible for the same comprehensive benefits and copays as other non-disabled adults in Medicaid.
Medicaid expansion will be transformative for access to health care in rural areas, for better mental health and for veterans, working adults and their families while bringing billions in federal dollars to the state. North Carolina is one of 41 states that has expanded Medicaid since it was authorized in 2014, though legislators delayed enrollment until passing the state budget.
Details: ncdhhs.gov.