Item:
Title
Approval of a Support Letter for the Medicaid Program
Body
Date of BOCC Meeting: May 12, 2025
Request for Board Action:
Agenda Text
The Board is requested to approve and sign a support letter for the Medicaid Program to members of Congress to protect Medicaid funding.
Medicaid is one of the most powerful tools that North Carolina has to improve the health and well-being of our residents and reduce the burden of their medical debt. About one in four of our residents (76,639 people), rely on Medicaid to access medical care. Nearly 45,000 of these residents are under 18 or over 65 years old, over 7,000 are disabled and over 1,000 pregnant women receive Medicaid in our county.
Any cut to Medicaid will be of great detriment to our state. North Carolina is one of nine states with “trigger laws” that will reverse Medicaid expansion if federal matching funds for the program drop below 90% of costs for those covered under the expansion. Nearly 17,000 Durham residents and 640,000 North Carolinians currently access health insurance through Medicaid Expansion. If Medicaid is cut, these North Carolina residents will lose their health coverage.
Alignment with Strategic Plan: This item aligns with Strategic Plan Goal: Medicaid most closely aligns with DCo Forward Healthy and Inclusive Community (H1 1, H1 2, H1 3).
Resource Persons: Maggie Clapp, Director, Department of Social Services; Cynthia Cason, Assistant Director, Department of Social Services; Margaret Faircloth, Assistant Director, Department of Social Services.
County Manager’s Recommendation: The County Manager recommends that the Board of County Commissioners approve and sign a support letter for the Medicaid Program to members of Congress to protect Medicaid funding.
Signature
County Manager: ____________________________