North Carolina Medicaid expansion agreement clears Senate
Associated PressRALEIGH, N.C. — A bipartisan agreement to expand Medicaid coverage to more low-income adults while loosening or ending several regulatory hurdles to building more health care facilities could get its final votes next week after clearing the Senate on Wednesday. Senators voted 44-2 to complete its approval of legislation that would direct state health officials to accept Medicaid coverage provided for in the Affordable Care Act. North Carolina, currently with 2.9 million enrollees in traditional Medicaid coverage, is one of 11 states that haven’t yet adopted expansion. The legislation also would scale back “certificate of need” rules that have required state health officials, for example, to sign off before hospital beds for mental health patients are opened or MRI machines are purchased.