NC Medicaid expansion: State leaders seek to help hundreds of thousands more sign up

There are 600,000 more people in North Carolina who became eligible for Medicaid under the state's expansion in December.

About 57% of the total has signed up, according to state leaders.

State leaders are trying to get hundreds of thousands more signed up in the next two years.

North Carolina resident Patrick Dunnagan said the expansion has meant financial freedom.

"Not just for me, but for my sister and my mom who have helped pay for my medical bills over the past 10 years since my transplant," he said.

The state said about 1,000 people are enrolling in Medicaid every day in North Carolina.

The Republican state lawmakers, who approved Medicaid expansion, pressed state Health Secretary Kody Kinsley last week on whether enrollment is moving fast enough.

"When you look at the other states that have expanded Medicaid most recently, we’re moving almost twice as fast as they were," Kinsley said.

Health leaders say outreach can be improved in those areas by making sure information is available in multiple languages.

National leaders also announced more work is being done to lower the costs of other drugs after an insulin cap went into effect last year.

"This month, we sent over our proposed negotiated price to the nine companies that sell the 10 most expensive drugs sold through the Medicare program," said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

More information is expected to be announced in September about exactly what those drugs are and what out-of-pocket costs Medicaid beneficiaries could expect to pay.