Gov. Josh Stein renewed his demand Thursday for North Carolina lawmakers to pass additional funding for Medicaid, calling a special legislative session more than a month after his administration slashed payments to providers.
Stein, a Democrat, has maintained that the Republican-led legislature needs to approve additional funding to reverse the cuts, which range from 3% to 10% across providers. But House and Senate leaders have thus far failed to come to an agreement on a funding package, while widely criticizing Stein for cutting rates.
The governor, in a press conference Thursday, further sharpened his criticism of lawmakers, saying they had “failed North Carolina and the people of North Carolina” and calling their inaction “shameful.”
“It is time to fund Medicaid,” Stein said. “Because if they fail to do so, people are suffering. And it is unacceptable.”
Stein is expected to issue a formal announcement of a special session, planned for Monday, Nov. 17. But it remains to be seen whether any substantive agreement will be reached; although lawmakers are scheduled to return to Raleigh that week, leaders in both chambers have signaled they are done with votes for the year.
Spokespeople for House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) and Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
North Carolina health officials, including state Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai, have said the state’s Medicaid program is underfunded by around $319 million. Stein has previously laid out three options for lawmakers: lay out $319 million for full funding, lay out $190 million to delay cuts through the new year, or allow the executive branch to tap into a reserve fund.
Both the House and Senate have separately approved plans to fund the program. In the House, one bill would have let the state dip into that reserve fund to delay cuts through the end of the year; another contains just language to fund Medicaid. The Senate’s proposal to fund the program also includes line items for rural health care and the N.C. Children’s hospital.
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell), left, and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) speak ahead of Gov. Josh Stein’s State of the State address on March 12, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)Those disagreements have led to a months-long standoff on the issue (as well as one on the broader state budget). Senate Republican leaders have called on the House to “stop playing politics and come to the negotiating table”; Hall has said he believes “[the House’s] bills are better.”
Stein said Thursday he had spoken to Hall and Berger last week about the issue. The conversation “didn’t go as well as I wanted it to go,” he said.
“Both chambers agree that we need more money, and how much money to get,” Stein said. “But what they cannot do is come to an agreement on a bill because of a dispute on an unrelated issue.
“I actually take the side of the Senate on [that issue],” he added. “But this is not the time or place to fight that fight.”
Republican leaders could choose to return to Raleigh and declare Stein’s special session unconstitutional. They did so in 2017, after former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper called on them to redraw legislative maps after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate issued statements in support of Stein’s special session call Thursday.
“It’s long past time for Republicans to stop playing games with people’s health,” Senate Democratic leader Sydney Batch (D-Wake) said.
Demi Eckhoff, left, a Medicaid participant who is also an advocate for people with disabilities, said Medicaid cuts put several support services she relies on at risk. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)The cuts mean health care providers are receiving less money to care for the 3.1 million North Carolinians enrolled in the program. Primary care doctors, dentists, hospitalizations, community care and nursing homes are all dependent on the program’s funding.
Stein and Sangvai were joined Thursday by two such enrollees and one family physician whose practice participates in Medicaid. Demi Eckhoff, a Medicaid participant who is also an advocate for people with disabilities, said the cuts put several support services she relies on at risk.
“I am at risk of going back into the hospital,” Eckhoff told reporters. “In a hospital, I am not able to work and pay taxes.”
Hence then, the article about gov stein calls for special session to fund medicaid as gop lawmakers disagreements persist was published today ( ) and is available on NC news line ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Gov. Stein calls for special session to fund Medicaid as GOP lawmakers’ disagreements persist )
Also on site :