N.C. governor sets Medicaid expansion date, pressuring Republicans to act

Key Facts

The unusual move puts additional pressure on the state’s Republican-controlled legislature to either pass a budget or fund Medicaid expansion separately — something Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has been calling for since earlier this month.
The unusual move, agreed to by the Biden administration, puts additional pressure on the state’s Republican-controlled legislature to either pass a budget or fund Medicaid expansion separately — something the Democratic governor and his health and human services secretary, Kody Kinsley, have been calling for since lawmakers failed to reach a spending deal earlier this month.
“Making Medicaid Expansion contingent on passing the budget was and is unnecessary, and now the failure of Republican legislators to pass the budget is ripping health care away from thousands of real people and costing our state and our hospitals millions of dollars,” Cooper said in a statement.
Rep. Donny Lambeth, a Republican and senior chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said Cooper knew that tying Medicaid expansion to the budget was part of the deal.