Governor McCrory Signs Historic Medicaid Reform That Improves Patient Care And Holds Down Costs | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Raleigh, N.C.     Governor Pat McCrory accomplished another major goal of his administration by signing into law major reform of North Carolina's Medicaid system.

    "Under the current system, we wait until people get sick to provide care and pay for tests - not outcomes. This new system will focus on keeping people healthy and delivering care where it makes the most sense for patients," Governor McCrory said. "We're going to accomplish this reform by paying providers based on improving patient's health - not how many services patients receive."

    The reform plan will transition away from a fee for service model to one that injects competition between provider-led health plans and commercial insurers and rewards healthier outcomes for Medicaid patients.


Sen. Floyd McKissick, Rep. Donny Lambeth, Rep. Marilyn Avila, and Sen. Brent Jackson with the governor

    This will be achieved by empowering patients to be more engaged in their personal well-being by having the ability to select from multiple pre-paid health plans. These plans will be required to spend at least 88 cents of every dollar on health care services, which is more than is required of many insurers serving other populations.

    The legislation, along with provisions in the state budget, strengthens the statewide Health Information Exchange which will provide medical providers data that will allow them to improve care quality and hold down costs.



    Medicaid is a state and federal government program that provides medical and health-related services for low income citizens. Medicaid covers roughly one out of every five North Carolinians, and 56 percent of all births in North Carolina are to mothers receiving Medicaid benefits.

    Governor McCrory thanked North Carolina's legislators and medical community for their input in shaping the new reform plan and said their input would continue to be listened to during the multi-year implementation of the new reform.

• Contact: Crystal Feldman
•     govpress@nc.gov