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NC Medical Society

House Select Committee on COVID-19 committee meeting, sparsely attended due to the coronavirus

State lawmakers start moving on coronavirus relief

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State lawmakers start moving on coronavirus relief - North Carolina Health News

A bipartisan committee that's been newly formed to address coronavirus needs heard from providers about their cash flow and equipment needs.

By Rose Hoban Even as Congress acts to provide financial relief for families and industries that have been shell-shocked by the effects of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, legislators at the N.C. General Assembly are starting to address the many legal and financial issues the ongoing outbreak is presenting to the state. This week, lawmakers met […]

A graphic with money in the background. Medicaid transformation graphic, prepaid health plan, medicaid expansion

Wannabe Medicaid managed care groups still fighting for a slot

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Wannabe Medicaid managed care groups still fighting for a slot - North Carolina Health News

With claims of conflict of interest and bias, bypassed managed care groups have gone to court to ask for a second shot at getting N.C. Medicaid’s managed care contracts.

By Sarah Ovaska  While a move to switch Medicaid to a managed care system in North Carolina is on indefinite hold, several companies rejected by state health officials for lucrative managed care contracts are still vying for seats at the table. If N.C. Administrative Law Judge Tenisha Jacobs agrees with lawyers in her Raleigh courtroom […]

Two glass vials that say "Naloxone HCL" and two wrapped syringes rest on a metal shelf at a needle exchange facility. In the background is a paper instructions on using the medication to reverse an opioid overdose

N.C. efforts to reduce opioid dependency highlighted in national report

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N.C. efforts to reduce opioid dependency highlighted in national report - North Carolina Health News

The American Medical Association published a national analysis of state policies fighting the opioid epidemic. It highlighted North Carolina’s Project OBOT and work by the N.C. Division of Public Health, and also called for Medicaid expansion.

By Yen Duong In a national report subtitled “Leading-edge Practices and Next Steps,” the American Medical Association and consulting firm Manatt Health highlighted a North Carolina Medical Society initiative to support providers treating opioid use disorder. Project OBOT, short for office-based opioid treatment, helps North Carolina providers get trained to prescribe medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to […]

Four people on a panel on stage, flanked by Congress banners

We know what you did this summer

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We know what you did this summer - North Carolina Health News

Members of Congress return to Washington, D.C. from their August recess today. We asked N.C.’s Congressional delegation if they had addressed any health care-related issues in their home districts during the break.

By Yen Duong Since early August, most members of Congress have been back in their home districts for the annual summer recess, and they head back to Washington, D.C. this week. Summer is a traditional time for lawmakers to leave Congress behind, and get in touch with constituents. Many hold town halls, tour public works […]

Image of money with a caduceus superimposed on the bills. We're using this image to denote Medicaid managed care.

Budget impasse delays Initial Nov. 1 rollout of Medicaid managed care

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Budget impasse delays Initial Nov. 1 rollout of Medicaid managed care - North Carolina Health News

Instead of one quarter of the state program going live this fall, the entire state will make the transition to managed care in Feb. 2020

By Sarah Ovaska-Few and Rose Hoban The standoff between North Carolina’s state government power brokers over the state budget and Medicaid expansion has claimed a victim: the planned roll-out this fall of Medicaid managed care. N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Sec. Mandy Cohen announced Tuesday morning she was pushing back the Nov. 1 […]

shows a map of North Carolina broken up into six regions

Would-be Medicaid managed care groups ask judge for second look

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Would-be Medicaid managed care groups ask judge for second look - North Carolina Health News

Ongoing court challenges to the DHHS' choices for Medicaid managed care providers threaten to derail the schedule for transitioning the program, set to start this November. More than $30 billion in contracts is at stake.

By Sarah Ovaska-Few North Carolina’s ongoing transition to Medicaid managed care system could screech to a temporary halt if an administrative law judge agrees with rejected managed care groups that the process to select contractors was flawed and unfair. Lawyers for three prepaid health care plans —  Aetna Better Health, a commercial managed care company; […]

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shows a map of North Carolina broken up into six regions

N.C.’s path to Medicaid managed care gets complicated

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N.C.’s path to Medicaid managed care gets complicated - North Carolina Health News

Before the new managed care regimen can go live state officials have to get through the legal appeals filed by companies not chosen to do the work.

By Sarah Ovaska-Few Shifting North Carolina’s massive Medicaid program to a managed care system was bound to get messy. And so, it has. The ambitious plan – to pay managed care companies $30 billion over five years to handle the health-care needs of 1.6 million low-income North Carolinians – is expected to go live in […]

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Lawmakers derail State Treasurer’s plan to change State Health Plan reimbursement

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Lawmakers derail State Treasurer’s plan to change State Health Plan reimbursement - North Carolina Health News

An overwhelming vote stopped Dale Folwell from pegging payment for state employees' insurance coverage to Medicare, instead creates a study committee with tight deadline, mandate.

By Rose Hoban After months of bitter back and forth between state Treasurer Dale Folwell and legislators, a bill that would slow down Folwell’s proposal to trim what the state employees health plan pays hospitals and other providers passed a key vote today at the General Assembly. House Bill 184 creates a new multidisciplinary study […]

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Advanced practice nurses press legislature for autonomy from MD supervision

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Advanced practice nurses press legislature for autonomy from MD supervision - North Carolina Health News

This year, the nurses have some powerful allies, and perhaps timing, favoring their quest for more independence.

By Rose Hoban Debbie Varnam runs a busy primary care practice in the Brunswick County town of Shallotte. The town is small enough that her 2,500 or so patients at Seaside Wellness make up a sizable portion of the town. Varnam says she’s also got a collegial relationship with other practitioners in the area, including […]