N.C. House Democrats propose food security bill

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein held a signing ceremony last week with several Republican lawmakers after approving compromise legislation to extend funding for the state’s Medicaid program.

The measure preserves funding for a major public health program, but the commentary argues it also includes provisions that will limit access to care for some residents.

Citing an American Cancer Society analysis, the piece says the law adds administrative steps and higher patient costs that could affect cancer treatment and screenings.

“This bill creates unnecessary red tape for patients seeking cancer treatment as well as anyone needing access to screenings by adding extra layers of bureaucracy and increasing patient costs,” the analysis said.

The group said the law will penalize cancer patients ages 19-64 by requiring the maximum allowable co-payment of $35 for each health care visit, “including those where cancer patients and others with serious illness receive their lifesaving treatment,” and, as a result, “puts lives at risk and will mean more cancer patients forced to forgo treatment, live sicker and die sooner.”

The commentary also says the law will end health coverage for 27,000 pregnant women and children, including lawful permanent residents with green cards, refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, and people granted stays of deportation.

It further says the law requires Medicaid enrollees to meet work requirements for three months before gaining coverage. According to a memo from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services that was shared with lawmakers before the bill passed, that provision will add costs and administrative burdens for counties while saving no state money.

The commentary says those and other provisions could cause some people who gained coverage under the state’s 2023 Medicaid expansion to lose access to routine care and rely again on emergency rooms.

It concludes that Stein, facing large Republican legislative majorities, sought to limit the scope of the final bill while securing continued Medicaid funding.

North Carolina Democratic state House members introduced a bill that would require more financial and operational disclosure from anti-abortion pregnancy centers that receive state funding.

House Bill 1120, the Financial Effectiveness and Transparency Act, would apply to nonprofit organizations that present themselves as health care facilities for prenatal needs, excluding hospitals, outpatient surgery centers, and facilities that provide abortions.

State Rep. Julie von Haefen, D-Wake, a lead sponsor, promoted the bill at a Tuesday news conference with faith leaders. She said some centers have reported costs of as much as $3,600 per client, above spending at comparable prenatal care facilities.

Von Haefen said the bill would not limit what the centers “say or believe,” and would not bar all state funding. Instead, it would block state funds for centers that do not provide full revenue and expense budgets, staff directories, client totals, and services provided.

The bill would also cut recurring funding to the Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, which it identifies as a network of crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina, by $6.75 million. It would redirect that money to maternal and infant health programs in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Faith leaders who appeared with von Haefen said they want the state to end all funding for the centers.