North Carolina General Assembly Passes Mini-Budget
The North Carolina General Assembly met the week of September 9, to pass a new version of House Bill 10, which originally related to local sheriffs working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The legislation was revised to include appropriations for health care, schools and other issues considered “critical” by NCGA leadership after budget negotiations this spring did not result in the passage of a full budget adjustments bill. House Bill 10 is a “conference report” meaning that two different versions of the bill had already passed the NC House and NC Senate, and final revisions needed to be done by a conference committee of NC House and NC Senate members before a vote by both chambers. Conference reports are not sent to other committees and cannot be amended on the floor – they can only get a yes or no vote by the NCGA.
The final version of HB 10 includes $277 million in recurring funds and $100 million in non-recurring funding for the Medicaid “rebase,” which are funds needed for North Carolina’s Medicaid program to meet its expected health care costs for 2024-2025. This rebase adjustment is needed to meet North Carolina’s portion of the state matching funds which increased this year due to North Carolina’s improved economy resulting in reduced funding from the Federal government. The $377 million is around $80 million short of the funding requested by NC’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), meaning it is likely that additional budget adjustments would be needed at a later point: either DHHS will need to delay, end, or scale back pilot projects in Medicaid or the NCGA will need to allocate additional funds to meet Medicaid costs.
ASNC advocates for and closely monitors the Medicaid program because of the significant numbers of people on the autism spectrum who rely on Medicaid to get access to autism therapies, physical and behavioral health care, and long-term supports needed for community living including 1915i services and Innovations Waivers. ASNC advocated for the NCGA to fund the Medicaid rebase now rather than waiting until next year to make additional budget adjustments. People on the autism spectrum and those that support them cannot afford cuts to the Medicaid program.
For more information on Medicaid and other Public Policy Issues see our Public Policy page and our information on Medicaid Transformation. Questions? Please reach out to our Director of Public Policy, Jennifer Mahan at jmahan@autismsociety-nc or fill out our Contact Us Form.