RALEIGH — The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced on Monday, Nov. 27 that 102 eligible hospitals in the state will begin receiving payments through the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program (HASP).
HASP funds, administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), reimburse health providers closer to the actual cost of care according to a state-specific formula. Nearly $2.6 billion in funds will be distributed across the state this week. The goal of the program is enable hospitals to then pay for non-federal share costs of expansion.
Medicaid Expansion and HASP will be financed through new assessments on North Carolina hospitals and will subsequently allow the state to draw down more than $8 billion each year from the federal government based on expected expansion enrollment when completed.
HASP payments are calculated based on in-network Medicaid managed care payments to acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals and hospitals owned or controlled by the University of North Carolina Health Care System (UNC Health) and ECU Health Medical Center.
“These payments to hospitals are a lifeline and critical as we work to strengthen rural hospitals and health systems in North Carolina,” NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley said on Monday. “The money will ensure people covered by Medicaid and Medicaid expansion have access to comprehensive physical and behavioral health care services in the communities they live in.”
Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, is the official launch date of Medicaid Expansion in the state, which will give access to an estimated 600,000 people full Medicaid coverage. Already, nearly 300,000 people who currently have limited Medicaid family planning benefits will automatically be enrolled. The department has been notifying those individuals and families since early November. As a result of this automatic enrollment, they will need to cancel plans on HealthCare.gov once they are in NC Medicaid.
“We hope this outreach proactively shares information with North Carolinians who will soon have access to comprehensive health care,” said Kinsley earlier this month.
It is expected that the total number of HealthCare.gov marketplace plans placing individuals will decrease. In the 2023 open enrollment period, 800,850 North Carolinians signed up using the marketplace.
Family Planning Medicaid provides reproductive health care at no cost to people with incomes up to 195% of the federal poverty line — an income of about $2,370 a month for a single person.
NCDHHS is asking those who think they are eligible for Family Planning benefits to update their information in ePASS or contacting their county’s Department of Social Services.
Eligibility for NC’s Medicaid Expansion includes single adults between the ages of 19 and 64 making $20,120 per year, a family of 2 making $27,214 per year, a family of 3 making $34,307 per year, a family of 4 making $41,400 per year, with each additional person adding $7,094 per year.
“Medicaid expansion is a monumental achievement that will save lives and provide better health care while sending billions to our economy,” said Gov. Roy Cooper in a statement this week. “We’re beginning to see the real-life impacts of this extraordinary win for North Carolinians through these first payments to our rural hospitals that have been struggling for years to keep their doors open.”
