North Carolina Medicaid funding deal advances care but risks coverage loss for pregnant women and children

While lawmakers tout bipartisan progress in fully funding Medicaid and protecting coverage for 725,000 residents, the plan carries significant pitfalls, cutting care for nearly 27,000 vulnerable women and children, adding bureaucratic delays, and increasing out-of-pocket costs for some families.

Governor Stein made the following statement on signing House Bill 696: 

“Fully funding Medicaid is critical for North Carolinians’ health and safety. I am pleased that we have come together on a bi-partisan basis to get people the certainty and care they need. This bill also protects coverage for more than 725,000 North Carolinians who benefit from Medicaid expansion. Both of these developments are huge wins for North Carolinians.  

“Moving forward, the General Assembly should use recurring, not one-time, funding for Medicaid to avoid this painful process each year, protect the program for those who rely on it, and keep our entire health care system strong. We are committed to continually improving Medicaid to contain costs and to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse at every turn.

“I am also gratified to see the General Assembly heed the call for urgent action on many of the items in my Critical Needs Budget, including addressing shortfalls in the Department of Adult Correction, the State Bureau of Investigation, and the DMV, which have faced an increased workload without enough funding to keep people safe. And I know thousands of children of veterans across North Carolina will be relieved to know that their scholarships are no longer in jeopardy.

“Yet, this bill has serious flaws that I call on the General Assembly to fix during this Short Session. It will eliminate health care coverage for nearly 27,000 pregnant women and children who are lawfully present in the United States, including victims of human trafficking, green card holders, and refugees. Women in need will be cut off from care in the middle of their pregnancies and children during their most vulnerable years. It is wrong. Fortunately, I believe that it is the General Assembly’s intent to fix this issue. The bill also layers onerous red tape that will force some North Carolinians to wait up to three months, longer than nearly every other state to get the health care benefits they are eligible to receive. And at a time when health care costs continue to burden working families, this bill makes Medicaid expansion recipients’ co-pays for certain health services more expensive.

“Nevertheless, this bill moves North Carolina forward by addressing many critical needs facing state government and the people we serve. I continue to hope for a productive short session and am committed to working with the General Assembly to construct a fiscally responsible, balanced budget that keeps North Carolina strong.”

May 1, 2026

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