Tag: State Children’s Health Insurance Program

By Liora Engel-Smith For the third year in a row, the number of people without health insurance in North Carolina remained roughly the same, the annual U.S. Census Bureau report released earlier this month shows. More than 1 million North Carolinians — or 10.7 percent — did not have health insurance in all of 2018,

By Rose Hoban After 2018’s unusual budget process this year’s budget has unfolded in a more “traditional” way. The House unveiled it’s proposal to spend $5.569 billion on health and human services priorities in early May. The Senate finished it’s work on the budget in early June, asking for a total appropriation of $5.552 billion

By Sarah Ovaska-Few Medicaid – the $14.6 billion health care program managed by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services – is one of the state’s biggest expenditures and funded with a mix of federal and state dollars. With size, however, comes complexity, and the particulars of the Medicaid program and how it affects

By Taylor Knopf It was a cold, wet, windy day as rural health advocates from North Carolina walked toward Capitol Hill earlier this month. They had back-to-back meetings in the offices of six N.C. congressmen: Sens. Thom Tillis (R) and Richard Burr (R), and Reps. David Price (D), G.K. Butterfield (D), Alma Adams (D) and

By Taylor Knopf When lawmakers arrive in Raleigh, even if they’re professionals with expertise in their own fields, they may be assigned to a committee where they need to get up to speed. That’s frequently the case for lawmakers trying to tackle the complicated world of health policy. So, on Monday, a handful of state

By Rose Hoban More than 200,000 children in North Carolina receive health care via the federally funded State Children’s Health Insurance Program or SCHIP, a program that dates back to the Clinton administration and which has traditionally had bipartisan support. Except for this year. A deadline passed on Sept. 30 for Congress to reauthorize the

By Phil Galewitz Kaiser Health News When high levels of lead were discovered in the public water system in Flint, Mich., in 2015, Medicaid stepped in to help thousands of children get tested for poisoning and receive care. When disabled children need to get to doctors’ appointments — either across town or hundreds of miles

By Rose Hoban Even as health care advocates worry about whether the most recent Obamacare “repeal and replace” legislation moving through Congress has a chance at passage, leaders at the state’s community and rural health centers are worried about the absence of bills that could seal their fates. Kim Schwartz, CEO of the Roanoke Chowan

Unpacking disagreements between the state auditor and the Department of Health and Human Services over last week’s audit. By Rose Hoban Like cats and dogs, state officials and auditors often don’t get along. When State Auditor Beth Wood came out last week with an audit of the state Department of Health and Human Services, it

Medicaid could have paid hundreds of millions too much for patient care, welfare payments and children’s health while underpaying recipients for food stamps. By Rose Hoban A new report from State Auditor Beth Wood finds the Department of Health and Human Services continues to struggle with monitoring federal programs, complying with federal and state regulations