NC Medicaid expansion hits over 450,000 enrollees in five months
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, right, speaks while North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley listens at an Executive Mansion news conference in Raleigh last year. In five months, 75% of those expected to be eligible thanks to Medicaid expansion have now enrolled. (AP Photo/Gary D. Robertson.)
More than 450,000 North Carolinians have enrolled in Medicaid since the state expanded eligibility in December.
State officials estimated around 600,000 North Carolinians would have access to health coverage with Medicaid expansion. In just five months, three-fourths of those expected to be eligible have now enrolled.
Nick Riggs directs NC Navigator Consortium, a federally funded, statewide organization that connects people with health coverage. He says North Carolina is learning from other states' mistakes and maintaining clear and consistent communication - and that's been key.
"It's tailoring messages to specific communities to make sure that we're getting information out in a way that resonates with different communities to make those barriers to enrolling for Medicaid just a little bit lower," he says.
According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, more than one in three enrollees are between 19 and 29 years old and live in rural communities.
Medicaid has covered more than 1 million prescriptions since December for things like diabetes, heart health and seizures.
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