Financial Incentive For More Medicaid Draws Mixed Reaction

A financial carrot for North Carolina to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands low-income adults is raising already elevated hopes among Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and allies that the General Assembly will adopt it this year. But GOP leaders remain wary of expansion. The new federal COVID-19 relief law would give North Carolina and other states that haven’t accepted expanded coverage more money to cover traditional Medicaid patients for two years if they sign up. Cooper says the incentive creates an “open window” for expansion. Republican Senate leader Phil Berger says the extra money is temporary and doesn't like creating a new entitlement.