News
Amid Expansion, Seeing New Patients
Summer is almost here!
It has been an interesting, challenging and somewhat unsettling first half of the year. Medicaid expansion appears to have peaked and most of our clinics are seeing new uninsured patients. As we knew before it started, expansion’s impact has varied significantly from clinic to clinic.
There are a few of the takeaways from the survey fielded by the NCAFCC a few months ago to assess the early impact of Medicaid expansion on our member clinics from Dec. 1, 2023 through the end of the first quarter March 31. The survey, completed by 84% of our members, yielded the following nuggets:
- As of March 31, 2024, responding members served 65,081 unduplicated uninsured patients, an increase of 593 over the number they were serving on Dec. 1!
- Clinics that completed the survey saw 6,029 NEW unduplicated uninsured patients in the first quarter of 2024. Many of you utilized our NCAFCC toolkit and/or incentivized your staff to enroll new patients.
- Since expansion took effect Dec. 1, 3,818 patients of clinics responding to the survey attained Medicaid coverage.
As many of you know, because of the backlog of needed re-certifications for Medicaid beneficiaries, many are re-enrolled in whatever Medicaid coverage they had through the end of the year. That could mean many individuals that have emergency COVID or Family Planning coverage may lose their benefits once they go through the re-certification process.
I want to sincerely thank all our members for your continued service to North Carolina’s most vulnerable residents. The uninsured still need you! We will be advocating for recurring funding from the North Carolina General Assembly again this fall. The Association continues to advocate on your behalf by utilizing your data, passion and the quality of care that you provide to your patients by telling your remarkable stories.
Please don’t forget to mark your calendars for our first in-person annual meeting since 2019, scheduled for Oct. 24-25, 2024 in Concord. This conference will host a panel of your peers, a legislative panel from the health committee, dinner at the Speedway Club, and special speakers. The agenda for the annual meeting will be featured soon on our website, which is undergoing a much-needed facelift.
With gratitude,
April Cook
Chief Executive Officer
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