The Trump administration is urging the North Carolina General Assembly to reverse cuts to Medicaid for more than 3 million residents by providing full funding in the state’s budget for its Medicaid program in October.
Beginning Oct. 1, the state program will lower reimbursement rates for physicians and hospitals after the state Legislature approved additional Medicaid funds that fell short of what was needed by $319 million, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein announced Thursday.
The changes come after President Donald Trump recently passed a tax bill known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (H.R.1), which made sweeping cuts to Medicaid funding. State funding for Medicaid is also matched dollar for dollar by the federal government.
Stein said in a statement that while state lawmakers have failed to provide sufficient funding for Medicaid, it’s not too late to reverse course, because lawmakers are still locked in a stalemate over certain proposed budget allocations to a children’s hospital and a rural health care initiative.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provided information to all health care providers detailing the new rates.
“I have directed DHHS to identify cuts that are reversible so that the moment we receive more funding from the General Assembly, we can work to undo the damage that their inaction has caused,” Stein said in a press release. “I call on the General Assembly to put our people’s health over their political disputes and send me a clean bill that keeps Medicaid running and ensures North Carolinians receive the critical care they need.”
Pete Tannebaum, Director of Alliance Medical Ministry, said his group is one of the few clinics in the state’s health care safety net that doesn’t accept Medicaid and added they are prepared for a surge of uninsured patients.
“Without routine care, small problems become emergencies. Patients wait until they’re dangerously ill and end up in the ER, needlessly sicker and far more expensive to treat,” Tannebaum said. “This is not just a financial crisis. It is a human crisis. These are our neighbors, friends, and members of the community we see and work with every day.”
Medicaid recipient and disability advocate Chelsea Grey said as a parent of a child with complex health care needs “every day is already uncertain.”
“It is hard enough to keep our children alive, and we are barely staying afloat with what is currently available,” Grey said. “So, I encourage our lawmakers to take whatever action is necessary to sustain access to Medicaid and relieve us of this current uncertainty.”
