Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed March Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. This marks the 37th anniversary of the Congressional designation of National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month and acknowledges the nearly 200,000 people living in North Carolina who have intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities are dedicated to coming together to address societal barriers so individuals can reach their full potential and be fully included in their communities.

Media Advisory — North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley will tour the Veterans Life Center in Butner, North Carolina on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Media is invited to attend as Secretary Kinsely and center leadership highlight the important work underway to improve the mental and physical health of veterans in our state.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced today its partnership with CHESS Health and Trillium Health Resources to provide critically needed support for North Carolinians working toward recovery from substance use disorders. Through this partnership, NCDHHS will make available CHESS Health’s proven eRecovery program to help thousands of North Carolinians struggling with substance use disorders to achieve long-term recovery.

PRESS RELEASE — A new program is expected to provide food for nearly a million school children in North Carolina this summer. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, today announced its intent to administer the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (S-EBT) Program known as “SUN Bucks.”

PRESS RELEASE — As part of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ ongoing effort to respond to the rise in syphilis and congenital syphilis cases and increase access to treatment, NC Medicaid will now cover an additional treatment for syphilis and congenital syphilis, Extencilline. This new coverage is being added to address the ongoing national shortage of Penicillin G Benzathine (Bicillin L-A), the first-line treatment for syphilis. In response to this additional resource being offered for people in North Carolina, State Health Director and NCDHHS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Elizabeth Cuervo Tilson released this statement:

PRESS RELEASE — Approximately 6,800 people in North Carolina have sickle cell disease, of which approximately 95% are Black or African American. This health disparity is paralleled at the national level with more than 100,000 people across the country battling this painful illness. New therapies offer an opportunity to provide long needed relief to these individuals and close long-standing disparities in our country.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Spanish-language Cafecito and tele-town hall on Tues., Feb. 27, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a Community Partner Engagement Plan to ensure the voices of North Carolina communities and families continue to be at the center of the department’s work. This includes a new website and improvements to internal processes for engaging community partners, as well as groups with lived experience, to make policy change that best serves the people of the state.

PRESS RELEASE — In support of ongoing efforts to combat rising cases of syphilis, including congenital syphilis, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is raising awareness among providers and patients of a recent rate increase to support treatment for Medicaid beneficiaries. As of Feb. 1, 2024, the Medicaid reimbursement rate has been increased to reflect the updated costs of the medication Bicillin L-A, which can be used to treat syphilis and is the only known effective treatment for preventing congenital syphilis.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a new Statewide Peer Warmline on Feb. 20, 2024. The new Peer Warmline will work in tandem with the North Carolina 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by giving callers the option to speak with a Peer Support Specialist. Peer Support Specialists (or “peers”) are people living in recovery with mental illness and/or substance use disorder who provide support to others who can benefit from their lived experience. A ribbon-cutting ceremony to raise awareness for the new support line will take place on Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Promise Resource Network respite facility in Charlotte. A media Q&A will immediately follow.

PRESS RELEASE — The Transylvania County Department of Social Services and Sherriff’s Office, along with staff from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, have been conducting investigations of Trails Carolina following the death of a child on Feb. 3, 2024.

PRESS RELEASE — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra joined Governor Roy Cooper and NC Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley in Raleigh Friday for a Medicaid expansion roundtable with beneficiaries and providers. Together they discussed the monumental impact Medicaid expansion is having for the more than 350,000 individuals who are now enrolled in the program since it launched a little more than two months ago. More than 600,000 people are now eligible and are expected to gain the critical physical and behavioral health care coverage they need over the next two years.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released a draft of its 2024-25 Olmstead Plan designed to assist people with disabilities to reside in and experience the full benefit of inclusive communities. The plan is open for public comment through March 7, 2024. NCDHHS encourages all interested individuals and organizations to provide comment on the draft plan. The final, two-year plan will be published in April and implemented in calendar years 2024 and 2025.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Tues., Feb. 20, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.

PRESS RELEASE — As of Feb. 1, 2024, 346,408 newly eligible North Carolinians are enrolled in Medicaid and now have access to comprehensive health care, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dashboard. NCDHHS released an updated the dashboard today, and it includes enrollment data as of Feb. 1, 2024. This number is more than half of the anticipated 600,000 people who are newly eligible for coverage, expected to enroll in Medicaid expansion over the next two years.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is investing $5.5 million into the FIT Wellness program, part of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program in the UNC School of Medicine, to improve reentry services for the justice-involved population. FIT Wellness delivers psychiatric and physical health care services along with connections to community supports such as housing, transportation and phones for people in the state prison system who have Serious Mental Illness.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the request for proposal to hire the organization that will help manage the Children and Families Specialty Plan. The first-of-its-kind statewide health plan will ensure access to comprehensive physical and behavioral health services for Medicaid-enrolled children, youth and families served by the child welfare system. The CFSP is one initiative among many at work to improve youth behavioral health in North Carolina. 

PRESS RELEASE — As part of its commitment to improve the health and well-being of North Carolina children and families, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced the launch of its Child Behavioral Health dashboard. The information shared through this publicly available tool will help the department as well as behavioral health providers, policymakers and stakeholders to identify and address gaps and disparities in behavioral health services for children.

PRESS RELEASE — February is National Children's Dental Health Month, and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is emphasizing the importance of children's dental hygiene to overall health and well-being. Currently in North Carolina, nearly one in five kindergartners have untreated tooth decay, which can have long-term health impacts such as chronic disease.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services distributed funds this week to county departments of social services to help improve placements for children in DSS custody who have complex behavioral health needs. These critical funds come at a time when an average of 32 children are living in DSS offices each week because there is no place for them to go that is appropriate for their care.