NC Legislature Approves Medicaid Privatization

The News & Observer

September 22, 2015

By Lynn Bonner

RALEIGH — The state began moving toward managed care for Medicaid recipients Tuesday despite a persistent group of dissenters who argue that the plan rejects a system run by doctors that for years has helped hold down costs.

The Senate passed House Bill 372, which overhauls Medicaid, in a 33-15 vote. There was less than five minutes of debate, though the topic has been the subject of months of discussion in Raleigh and beyond.

The House then debated the bill for more than an hour before approving it 65-40. The bill now goes to Gov. Pat McCrory for his signature.

“We are finally going to put some controls in the Medicaid system,” said Sen. Ralph Hise, a Spruce Pine Republican. “I think it’s an exciting day for our state and future budgets.”

Managed care is not inherently good or bad, said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University. “Different states have different experiences with it,” she said.

Alker said, however, that it is “a real shame” that the state is moving away from CCNC.

“There’s no compelling reason to move to Medicaid managed care,” she said in an interview. “We don’t know that managed care saves money at the end of the day. North Carolina has been a leader for decades. It’s been admired around the country.”

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