https://mailchi.mp/6f4bb5a2183a/the-weekly-gist-march-24-2023?e=d1e747d2d8

On Thursday, legislators in North Carolina’s Republican-led General Assembly passed a bill to expand Medicaid eligibility to more than 600K low-income residents. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, with expanded coverage beginning in 2024. The Tar Heel State is poised to become the 40th state to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, although it must still appropriate funding in upcoming budget negotiations. The North Carolina Healthcare Association, which represents the state’s health systems, helped get the deal over the line by supporting language that repeals state certificate of need (CON) review in certain instances, including ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), behavioral health and substance treatment beds, and capital technology replacements costing below $3M.

The Gist: North Carolina legislators have been attempting to expand Medicaid since 2019. It’s notable that the state’s hospitals viewed the benefits of broader public insurance to be worth the elimination of CON rules restricting development of ambulatory surgery centers, which will surely increase competition from new insurer- and private equity-backed facilities.

North Carolina will become the fourth state to expand Medicaid using additional incentives from the American Rescue Plan, and there’s a chance Kansas will be next, given the recent push by Democratic Governor Laura Kelly.

Prospects for Medicaid expansion in the remaining nine states seem slim at best.