Editorial: Legislators must heed Sec. Kinsley's plea. Expand Medicaid now!

If the General Assembly passes legislation to expand Medicaid by the end of September, the state Department of Health and Human Services will, before the end of the year, get health care services to more than 600,000 North Carolinians who now lack access to critical basic medical care.

He said the state can gain up to $2 billion in additional federal funds if it acts now.

He pleaded with legislators to act with dispatch. “We are ready to move forward with this opportunity to save lives, save rural hospitals, support mental health and bring at least $8 billion (in federal dollars) per year to North Carolina.”

The Health Access and Stabilization Program is federally funded through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and provides hospitals with enhanced Medicaid reimbursement so those rates more closely match what commercial health insurers pay and the cost of actually providing care. The aim is to help hospitals – particularly those that aid the most critical and disadvantaged patients -- remain financially viable and able to treat those patients most in need of care.

It provides rural hospitals with about 90% of their unreimbursed cost and would cut the $2.3 billion Medicaid reimbursement gap to $541 million, erasing more than $1.5 billion in financial strain on North Carolina health systems and hospitals.

Medicaid expansion advocates must, immediately, demand the appropriate legislative committees meet to draft the necessary legislation so that when the full General Assembly meets on Tuesday, Sept. 20, it is prepared to discuss and pass the necessary legislation and get it to Gov. Roy Cooper for his signature.

Nothing needs to be injected as an impediment to bringing much-needed access to health care to those 600,000 in North Carolina who most need it.

The General Assembly, on Sept. 20, must move on Secretary Kinsley’s urgent request. Pass Medicaid expansion now.

Given the significant strain on our health care system – particularly with regard to mental health – it is urgent we pass legislation to expand Medicaid and establish the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program (HASP) so North Carolina can reap the benefits. A failure to act in September will have significant health and financial consequences.

Our team is ready to ensure a smooth and efficient implementation built on the managed care platform championed by the General Assembly. However, this is little more we can do until a law is passed. Our team has been working closely with the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) and other partners to move as soon as Expansion and HASP become law. Further work, such as updating the eligibility technology system, communicating with Medicaid beneficiaries, and training county social services staff, require certainty.

Thank you for your partnership. We are ready to move forward with this opportunity to save lives, save rural hospitals, support mental health and bring at least $8 billion per year to North Carolina.