More than half a million North Carolinians have enrolled in Medicaid expansion since the program began seven months ago, giving them access to health care at a lower cost now that expansion of the federal program has taken hold in the state.
Gov. Roy Cooper, who championed Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, announced the enrollment milestone flanked by state health officials and medical professionals. Among them were North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley, Dr. Karen L. Smith, a family physician from Raeford, and Verlina Lomick, Director of Community Outreach & Advocacy for Kintegra Health
Reaching 500,000 Medicaid enrollees through expansion of the program to people who did not previously qualify — including those who are single, have higher incomes, and don’t have children or a disability — was expected to take up to two years, Cooper said.
“People across our state continue to feel the positive impact in their lives with access to affordable health care coverage,” Cooper said.
“They can now see a doctor, get preventative care, manage chronic conditions and get life-saving prescriptions without the burden of high premiums or co-pays. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services along with the many community partners supporting enrollment efforts have done a remarkable job to reach half a million North Carolinians in such a short amount of time, and we’ll keep working to enroll more people.”
New Medicaid enrollees have filled more than 1.9 million new prescriptions for conditions like heart health, diabetes, seizures and other illnesses in the past eight months. Medicaid has also covered more than $28.6 million in claims for dental services in that period, during which the total number of North Carolinians enrolled in Medicaid expansion rose to 503,967.
The state plans to soon launch a Medicaid Expansion Service Utilization Dashboard to provide more insights into the health services new enrollees use.
That dashboard will show monthly service trends since expansion launched in December 2023, including the number of people accessing doctor and dental visits, cancer screenings, behavioral health services and prescriptions and provide metrics on the number of Medicaid expansion enrollees with chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension.
The dashboard will also tabulate service totals by county to support local efforts, including through local health departments and community-based organizations.
“This year, we have worked tirelessly with our partners to help newly eligible North Carolinians get covered by Medicaid fast and get them connected to care,” Kinsley said. “Our new dashboard will showcase the positive impact of all the lives saved and peace of mind provided for North Carolinians by NC Medicaid.”
