Cooper administration delivers NC Medicaid expansion pitch

Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration has made another pitch for Medicaid expansion in what could be the most promising environment for the idea so far in North Carolina. State Medicaid director Dave Richard made a presentation on Tuesday to a House-Senate committee created specifically to study expansion. North Carolina is among a dozen states that haven’t expanded Medicaid under the 2010 federal health care law. The GOP-controlled legislature has blocked the idea for years, but now Senate leader Phil Berger is open to it. A committee co-chairman is hopeful the panel's recommendation could be voted on by the full General Assembly as soon as September.