Medicaid Expansion recently passed in North Carolina, and Governor Cooper signed the bill on March 27, 2023. Medicaid Expansion provides access to affordable health insurance coverage to an estimated 600,000 adult North Carolinians, including many adults who care for children.
The expansion of Medicaid will have an important impact on the well-being of the children and families enrolled in the NC Integrated Care for Kids (NC InCK) model.
What is Medicaid Expansion?
North Carolina has expanded income thresholds for adults who qualify for affordable health insurance through Medicaid. Income thresholds have been expanded up to 138% of the federal poverty level. For a family of three whose children are enrolled in the NC InCK model, this means that caregivers who earn up to $24,860 per year will qualify for insurance coverage through Medicaid. Medicaid coverage works similarly to other types of insurance coverage by covering the costs of key physical and mental health care services and vision and dental care.
Approximately 100,000 low-income parents with children will gain coverage through North Carolina’s Medicaid Expansion. Children are more likely to access routine preventative care, like annual well visits, when their parents also have Medicaid insurance coverage.
Medicaid Expansion is important for caregivers of children in the NC InCK model because it:
- Provides access to preventative care for many low-income people and their families.
- Provides access to behavioral and mental health services for many low-income caregivers and their families.
- Reduces medical bills for low-income caregivers and their families.
- Increases access to affordable health insurance coverage for working families, particularly those in the childcare sector, who provide early education support for children enrolled in the NC InCK model.
- Stabilizes health care in rural areas by giving patients access to affordable health insurance, creating jobs, and strengthening the local economy.
What does Medicaid Expansion mean for NC InCK families?
NC InCK’s integrated care model focuses on working alongside families to address children’s health, education, and social service needs. Since 2020, NC InCK has worked with nine partner entities to connect families with a care manager called a Family Navigator. Since 2022, our partners have enrolled 1,500 children in the NC InCK model across five NC counties.
A Whole Family Approach to Care
Families engaged in the NC InCK model often benefit from many services that support all aspects of a child’s life. Services might include connections to a therapist, affordable housing, or creating an asthma action plan. Many families may need services for adult family members too. Under Medicaid Expansion, NC InCK care managers will be able to better support a whole family’s needs because more children’s caregivers will have access to health insurance coverage. With this coverage, care managers can assist in coordinating supports for behavioral health care, physical health and preventive care, and the management of chronic conditions for both parents and their children. NC InCK hopes that the expansion of Medicaid will make it easier for our partner health systems to take a whole family approach to care management.
Reducing the Stress of Medical Debt
When families experience financial stress, it can harm a child’s development as well. Families enrolled in the NC InCK model are often navigating food insecurity, housing instability, and/or inconsistent transportation, which can have an impact on children, their development, and their education. Medicaid Expansion will help to reduce family medical debt, so that families will be less likely to encounter hardship impacting social determinants of health.
Improving Access to Non-Emergency Care
Chandrika Brown, NC InCK’s Family Council Chairperson, captured the importance of affordable health coverage for families like those enrolled in NC InCK when she said, “Medicaid Expansion is important for North Carolina families, especially the children and young adults. It gives families the opportunity to receive the necessary care they have often gone without. They are able to receive appropriate care instead of going to the emergency room, without fear of excessive medical bills. Medicaid Expansion is changing the lives of North Carolina families, children, and young adults.”
You can learn more about NC InCK by visiting ncinck.org.
For press inquiries, please contact Sonya Sutton at sonya.sutton@duke.edu.
Sarah Allin is the Managing Director of NC Integrated Care for Kids. In her role, she oversees the day-to-day operations of the NC InCK model. Allin also serves as a Child Health Policy Fellow at the Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy and holds a Masters of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Manda Hufstedler is a Research Communications and Engagement Specialist at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, and she has worked with the NC InCK Communications Team since February 2021.
