Gov. McCrory remains open to NC expanding Medicaid, and continues to explore options for how to get it done, in spite of continued opposition from the legislature, and resounding opposition from voters.
Gov. Pat McCrory has said he is waiting to see how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a challenge to the federal health-care law, but he says he is also actively exploring Medicaid coverage options while he waits.
In a recent interview with The News & Observer, the governor said one option involves convincing hospitals and other private entities to help plug a gap in funding that would occur – if the state signs on to expansion – when federal financial support drops by 2020 from 100 percent to 90 percent of the cost of expanding Medicaid.
“They would have to have skin in the game to cover the extra 10 percent,” McCrory said.
His administration is also looking into what waivers federal officials might grant that they haven’t been willing to grant in the past, and whether North Carolina could craft its own coverage plan and not be forced to adopt a national model. He said he is also reviewing what other states are doing.
There are countless reasons why NC should not expand Medicaid, not the least of which is the fact that the program is already overcrowded with too many patients chasing too few doctors. Adding half a million more Medicaid enrollees to a program with declining number of doctors willing to treat them simply does not improve access to care.
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