RALEIGH, NC – March 4, 2025 – More than one year ago, on December 1, 2023, North Carolina officially became the 40th state to expand Medicaid, the federal program for health insurance for low-resource individuals. A state Medicaid expansion (ME) bill was passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Roy Cooper in March. ME was in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and left to each state to decide in a subsequent Supreme Court ruling. ME increases health care access to eligible North Carolinians ages 19-64 and their families by relaxing the program’s strict eligibility requirements.
The latest update of the NC Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dashboard was on March 4th. There have been almost 640 thousand people in North Carolina who have been enrolled since the law took effect including more than 15.5 thousand residents of Buncombe County. It was estimated that 600 thousand North Carolinians were eligible for ME, with 15.5 thousand from Buncombe County. The state had predicted that it would take 2 years (24 months) to achieve their enrollment. After only 15 months of accepting applications, the state and Buncombe County have already exceeded their estimates to enrolling eligible persons.
North Carolina has been thrust into the national spotlight through the passing and implementation of Medicaid expansion. Its success was due to the strong grassroots support by many organizations and the efforts of Governor Cooper and both houses of the General Assembly.
It has been estimated that expanding Medicaid will bring the state 8 billion federal dollars annually, almost 2 billion dollars to support behavioral health, public safety, and rural health care, and 2 billion dollars for starting the program in 2023.
In an interview with North Carolina Health News, Governor Cooper, who spearheaded expanding Medicaid in North Carolina, said, “When I ran for governor, one of my top priorities was creating a North Carolina where people were healthier and could get the care that they need to have lives of purpose and abundance.” He added, “We knew that Medicaid expansion was an important way of making that happen, because there were a lot of hardworking people in North Carolina who were making too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough money to qualify for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.”
There are many ways to apply for NC Medicaid for eligible persons. Those who have not yet applied should visit Medicaid.nc.gov to see if they qualify. Buncombe County residents can apply for Medicaid online and at any time at ePASS.NC.gov. Applications can be done in-person at the HHS Building on 40 Coxe Avenue, by calling 828-250-5500, or by mail.
Listen to the full report below:
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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, healthyasheville@ashevillefm.org