North Carolina's Medicaid expansion program has enrolled 500,000 people in just 7 months

More than 500,000 North Carolina residents have enrolled in the state's Medicaid expansion program since it went live about seven months ago, officials announced Friday.

Gov. Roy Cooper, joined by North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley and two health care professionals held a news conference to tout the enrollment number as a significant milestone for the program. The original goal was to enroll 600,000 people in the Medicaid expansion over two years, Cooper said.

The number of enrollees was 503,967 as of Friday morning, according to the governor's office.

Expanding Medicaid had been a major goal of Cooper's since the Democrat took office in 2017. The plan to broaden the pool of eligible adults received bipartisan support from state legislators last year and started Dec. 1. Within the first few weeks, almost 300,000 people had signed up under the expansion. Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the federal government pays 90% of the cost.

"We never, ever, ever gave up. And that's why we're standing here today," Cooper said.

Almost 2 million prescriptions have been filled for new Medicaid enrollees, many of which treat chronic conditions such as seizures or heart diseases, Kinsley said at the news conference. Dental services have also seen increased claims under Medicaid due to the expansion, he said.

"We're not just getting people covered. We are getting people care," Kinsley said.

He also called for increasing provider rates in the Medicaid program, which was included in Cooper's budget proposal this year.