Publication Type: Medicaid Matters

Medicaid Matters for North Carolina’s Most Vulnerable

Medicaid is a joint state and federal health coverage program that has helped improve the health of children, low-income adults and families, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and older adults for over 50 years. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was established in 1997 to extend financial support to states in order to provide care to more children. Despite bipartisan support for CHIP and the great coverage gains in states that enacted Medicaid expansion, Medicaid and CHIP are both under attack in Congress.

Medicaid Matters for Children’s Healthy Development

Sixty-nine percent of enrollees in Medicaid and NC Health Choice—two programs that make up nearly half of the health coverage sources for children in North Carolina—are children. Unfortunately, reckless plans to restructure Medicaid will affect NC Health Choice and put the health and well-being of 1.4 million children across the state at risk.

Medicaid Matters for North Carolina’s Revenue

Medicaid supports children, families, and older adults, helps people with disabilities reach their full potential, and serves as a safety net to all of North Carolina. In 2016, Medicaid served more than 1.9 million North Carolinians and supported more than 83,000 Medicaid providers across the state.

Medicaid Matters for Supporting Long-Term Care

Medicaid provides crucial resources for meeting the long-term care needs of North Carolina’s seniors and adults with disabilities, resources that will only become more important since the population over 65 is projected to more than double by 2050.

Medicaid Matters to NC Schools

North Carolina’s children benefit tremendously from Medicaid, a joint state and federal health coverage program that supports children, families, older adults, the disabled and pregnant women, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which has extended additional support to states to provide care to more children. Medicaid and CHIP provide direct and indirect financial support to schools, as well as the improved health outcomes associated with broader access to health coverage lead to improved educational outcomes for students.