North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed a Medicaid expansion bill into law, which is expected to provide coverage to more than 600,000 state residents, according to a March 27 news release from his office.
The signing of the bill comes after North Carolina House and Senate leaders agreed to a compromise bill March 2. The sides had been at odds over reducing certificate of need regulations. The Senate had been pushing for the reduction, but the state's hospitals opposed it, and the House initially refused. The compromised plan called for dramatic reductions.
State funding for the expansion is linked to the passage of North Carolina's 2023-24 state budget, which is projected to clear the Legislature between mid-June and early July. Without a state budget, the bill would expire July 1, 2024.
North Carolina is the 40th state to expand Medicaid under the ACA.