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North Carolina

  • Once Upon a Time in North Carolina: CHIP Health Services Initiative Funds Early Literacy Promotion as Part of Well-Child Care

    by Emma Sandoe, Anna Miller-Fitzwater, Donna Cohen Ross Once Upon a Time So many well-loved stories of early childhood begin with the words “once upon a time” and go on to tell fairy tales of fantastic adventure. Here in North Carolina, we are excited to share our own early childhood story—one that is certainly adventurous and promises…

  • New Data Finds Number of Uninsured Children Increasing at Alarming Rate

    NC Child By: Fawn Pattison An estimated 142,000 North Carolina children were uninsured last year, a number that has increased about 23% since 2016, according to a new report released by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. About 27,000 more North Carolina children were uninsured in 2019 than in 2016. The state’s experience is part…

  • Here’s what could help save more black infants’ lives. But NC isn’t doing it.

    News and Observer Deaths of African-American babies declined most quickly in states that expanded Medicaid coverage, researchers have found. North Carolina isn’t one of those states. … Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, said the conclusions about insurance improving infant health make sense. As it stands in…

  • #ListenToBlackWomen: Maternal and infant health care advocates tell North Carolina

    North Carolina Health News By: Anna Blythe The racial disparities are more pronounced in North Carolina than much of the country, both for maternal health and infant mortality rates… Adam Searing, a research professor at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, pointed out that Medicaid expansion states have reduced the percentage of uninsured…

  • States that Expanded Medicaid are Helping to Protect Children from Becoming Uninsured

    Our annual report on the state of children’s coverage is out. It’s a deep dive into a disturbing trend – children across the country are losing affordable health coverage, rolling back gains started with the Affordable Care Act.  One main cause of this drop in coverage is easily fixed.  The 14 states that haven’t expanded…

  • When Early Childhood Educators are Covered, Kids Win: Stories from North Carolina

    If you, like me, have the peace of mind of knowing that your toddler or preschooler is well cared for and supported while you’re at work, you probably know already that you’re incredibly fortunate. I am grateful every day for the many early childhood teachers who make the safety, educational success, and wellbeing of a…

  • 2016 Maps

    The interactive maps and data for 2016 provide information on the percent of adults and children covered by Medicaid and/or CHIP.You can embed these maps on your website by selecting a state on the left then copying the embed code on the right side of the map and pasting it into a post on your…

  • MACPAC Releases Medicaid Eligibility, Enrollment and Renewal Case Studies Examining New Data-Driven Processes

    Before the holidays, MACPAC and its contractor, SHADAC, (the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota) released findings of a study that examined the status of the new data-driven enrollment and renewal processes enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act. The case studies report on how six states – Arizona,…

  • Midterm Elections Improve Prospects for Medicaid Expansion in North Carolina

    The loss of Republican supermajorities in the North Carolina House and Senate in the recent midterms was the first sign of an improving climate for expanding Medicaid in the Tarheel state. Now when Democratic Governor Roy Cooper exercises his veto power, Democrats in the legislature can block legislation – including the annual state budget bill…

  • Nation’s Progress on Children’s Health Coverage Reverses Course

    Introduction For the first time since comparable data was first collected in 2008, the nation’s steady progress in reducing the number of children without health insurance reversed course. The number of uninsured children under age 19 nationwide increased by an estimated 276,000 to about 3.9 million (3,925,000) in 2017, according to newly-available data from the…

  • Medicaid Transformation in NC: Three Priorities to Watch

    By Ciara Zachary Seventy percent of the people enrolled in Medicaid and NC Health Choice in North Carolina are children. So as the state’s Medicaid transformation process continues to meet major milestones, NC Child is closely monitoring this complex undertaking for its impacts on children. Here’s a brief update on where we are in the…

  • Fact check: NC Democrat says Mike Pence expanded Medicaid in Indiana

    News Observer By: Paula Specht Democrats in North Carolina argue the state should expand Medicaid to help residents pay for health care. … “In Indiana’s case their waiver contained elements like some increased cost sharing and health savings accounts — other states that have expanded Medicaid have used some of these ideas too,” said Adam…

  • State Medicaid and CHIP Snapshots, 2018

    The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) created factsheets underscoring the importance of Medicaid in providing coverage for children in all 51 states (including the District of Columbia). Sources are available here. Previous snapshots can be found here. 

  • States Work to Curb Drug Spending: Tight Budgets Lead to New Approaches to Managing Costs

    Prescription drug spending in the United States continues to grow, totaling $477 billion in 2016. Spending by Medicaid, which is jointly funded by states and the federal government, surpassed $31 billion that year. These rising costs have strained state budgets, leading policymakers to look for strategies—within Medicaid and beyond—to better manage spending while ensuring a patient’s access to…

  • Tracking Medicaid Work Requirement Proposals

    We here at Georgetown University CCF are closely tracking Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration waiver proposals as states attempt to create new barriers to coverage. There are many troubling proposals pending, but one of the most common is the imposition of a work or community service requirement as a condition of Medicaid coverage. As a reference,…

  • New Research: Medicaid Expansions Increase Coverage More in Rural Areas than in Urban Areas

    Rural areas and small towns across America have special problems accessing health care. Our colleagues at the University of North Carolina’s Rural Health Program have tracked the increasing numbers of rural hospital closures around the country. The Rural Health Information Hub is also a great resource on the opportunities and challenges for rural health delivery…

  • Nationwide Rate of Uninsured Children Reaches Historic Low

    Nationwide 95.5 percent of children had health insurance in 2016, up from 95.2 percent the previous year—and up from 92.9 percent in 2013, the year before the ACA was fully implemented. While relatively few children rely on the ACA’s Marketplace for insurance, many gained coverage in Medicaid or CHIP when their parents signed up for…

  • Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver Comments

    Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families contributes an independent perspective to the public dialogue on the future of Medicaid through the lens of children and their families.

  • Medicaid’s “Welcome Mat” Effect Means Medicaid Expansion Helps Children Get Health Coverage

    New research in the journal Health Affairs this month gives even more evidence for a parental “welcome mat” effect that increases health coverage among children already eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program when their parents become eligible as well.  Simply put, moving to “whole family coverage” through a state Medicaid expansion or…

  • State CHIP Snapshots

    The Role of CHIP in Children’s Coverage In 2016 the children’s health insurance coverage rate in the United States dropped to just above 95 percent, an impressive achievement. Key to this success is the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides coverage to children who do not qualify for Medicaid but whose families cannot otherwise afford…