Squabbles over the state's budget could delay implementation of Medicaid expansion in North Carolina.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed the state's Medicaid expansion plan in March. State lawmakers need to pass a 2023-2024 budget to provide funding for the expansion.
In a July 3 news release, Mr. Cooper, a Democrat, criticized the state's Republican-led Legislature for failing to pass a new budget before the new fiscal year began on July 1.
Mr. Cooper urged lawmakers to separate Medicaid expansion from the state's budget negotiations to allow the state to work on implementing the expansion while budget negotiations continue.
"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 healthcare away from thousands of real people and costing our state and our hospitals millions of dollars," Mr. Cooper said.