PRESS RELEASE — Today, Governor Josh Stein and North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai joined rural health providers and community leaders for a roundtable discussion on how access to health care coverage through NC Medicaid is a lifeline for rural communities. With Congress considering cuts to the program, leaders noted rural communities would be particularly hard hit.
Press Releases
PRESS RELEASE — Today, Governor Josh Stein and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Dev Sangvai hosted a roundtable with health care professionals and Medicaid beneficiaries to highlight the lifesaving impacts of Medicaid and discuss the importance of protecting Medicaid funding from federal cuts.
PRESS RELEASE — This week, the success of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy Opportunities Pilots was featured in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In just under three years, the first-of-its kind innovative program has been described as a "life changer" for thousands of North Carolina families. Healthy Opportunities proves the best way to lower health care costs and create healthier communities is to reduce the need for medical care in the first place.
PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services received approval from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services to continue the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program (HASP) that makes hospital incentives for the state’s medical debt relief initiative possible. The first two years were approved in July 2024. This new approval supports the state’s work to relieve more than $4 billion and a decade’s worth of medical debt for nearly 2 million low-and middle-income North Carolinians and prevent accumulation of new debt going forward.
PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Into the Mouths of Babes program, a partnership that delivers preventive oral health services to young children insured by NC Medicaid. Since 2000, this program has helped medical providers across the state give infants and toddlers early dental evaluations, preventive oral health care and other dental services that lay the foundation for good health.
Today, Governor Roy Cooper announced more than 600,000 people have enrolled in Medicaid Expansion in the first year of implementation, in half the time that was first projected.
PRESS RELEASE — The NC Department of Health and Human Services this week completed the successful hiring of seven regional directors who will provide vital support to North Carolina’s 100 local departments of social services. These regional directors will work closely with county DSS directors and their agencies to enhance leadership, build capacity and strengthen service delivery to improve outcomes for children and families across the state.
PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released a toolkit aimed at assisting other states seeking to tackle the burden of medical debt. The Medical Debt Toolkit is based on an innovative program recently launched by NCDHHS to address the issue of medical debt among North Carolinians. It builds on record enrollment as North Carolina marks one year of Medicaid expansion.
PRESS RELEASE — Today, Governor Roy Cooper and North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley celebrated the one-year anniversary of Medicaid expansion in North Carolina by announcing that nearly 600,000 North Carolinians, many of whom live in rural counties, have enrolled. The Governor and Secretary spoke at ECU Health in Greenville and were joined by ECU Health CEO Dr. Mike Waldrum, Dr. Karen Coward and several beneficiaries who have been able to get care thanks to Medicaid expansion. This is the first in a series of events highlighting the Governor's major accomplishments and progress made for North Carolina during his time in office.
PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Tuesday, Nov. 19, from 6 to 7 p.m., in partnership with The National Coalition of 100 Black Women Inc., Queen City Metropolitan Chapter. During this event, NCDHHS and NCBW will provide information and resources to those who may be eligible for Medicaid throughout the Mecklenburg community and across the state.
PRESS RELEASE — NC Medicaid is the recipient of the National Association of Medicaid Directors’ 2024 Spotlight Award. This recognition for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services comes as more than 570,000 people have enrolled in Medicaid expansion in the 11 months since its Dec. 1, 2023, launch. The record enrollment in year one is almost the total 600,000 that were estimated to enroll in Medicaid expansion over two years.
PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announces $5 million to help providers build capacity and implement the Collaborative Care Model in primary care offices across the state. Through the Collaborative Care Model, primary care providers work with an integrated behavioral health case manager and a psychiatric consultant to monitor and treat patients for mild to moderate behavioral health conditions. The need for integrated medical and behavioral health care is greater than ever as rates of anxiety and depression have substantially increased following the COVID-19 pandemic.
PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Tuesday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss what to know and ways to apply for health care coverage, including NC Medicaid, during open enrollment.
PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is working with state, federal and local partners to help North Carolinians impacted by Hurricane Helene access needed health care. NC Medicaid has been granted additional temporary changes to help with continued care during recovery efforts.
PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is working with state, federal and local partners to help North Carolinians impacted by Hurricane Helene access needed health care. Temporary changes to NC Medicaid will allow people to more easily refill prescriptions early, get medically necessary services, be admitted to a nursing home and more.
PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced Blue Cross Blue Shield NC was selected to operate the Children and Families Specialty Plan. A first-of-its-kind initiative, the CFSP is a single, statewide NC Medicaid Managed Care plan that will wrap Medicaid-enrolled children, youth and their families in the child welfare system with seamless, integrated and coordinated health care.
PRESS RELEASE — Governor Roy Cooper and Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley today announced all eligible hospitals in North Carolina have signed on to their innovative plan to relieve medical debt for millions of people across the state. As of today, all of the state’s 99 eligible hospitals have committed to participate in North Carolina’s medical debt relief incentive program.
PRESS RELEASE — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and NC Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley today gave an update at Care Ring in Charlotte on their plan to incentivize hospitals to relieve medical debt for millions of low- and middle-income North Carolinians. Participants spoke about the impact of relieving up to $4 billion in medical debt for people in the state, as well as the program’s potential reach in the Mecklenburg County area.
PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Spanish-language Cafecito and tele-town hall on Tuesday, Aug. 6, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss who is newly eligible for Medicaid under expansion, ways to apply, how to access application support in Spanish and which qualified immigration statuses are eligible for health care coverage.
PRESS RELEASE — Today, Governor Roy Cooper joined North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services leadership and a representative from Walgreens for an announcement on Medicaid coverage in Chapel Hill. As part of NCDHHS and the Governor’s continued work to expand access to reproductive health services, NC Medicaid will begin covering over-the-counter contraception in pharmacies across the state. Starting Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, the oral contraceptive Opill will be available through local and retail pharmacies without a prescription, at no cost for NC Medicaid beneficiaries. Opill is the first over-the-counter oral contraception that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.