Health Insurance

The number of people who have enrolled in Medicaid in North Carolina since expansion began in December is now over 310,000. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper offered that figure on Wednesday while at a Raleigh event with the nation’s chief Medicaid regulator to talk about expansion and those getting other subsidized insurance offered through the Affordable Care Act.

The measure would permit Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the state's dominant insurance provider, and Delta Dental to transfer money from its current hospital service companies into new shell companies run by the same executive leadership.

“It's not Blue Cross's money — this is the people's money,” state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey told legislators before the vote, urging them to protect his ability to hold insurers accountable to their consumers.

The N.C. Treasurer's office rejected two appeals of its decision to award the State Health Plan's administration contract to Aetna.

Blue Cross Blue Shield, which currently holds the state health plan contract, said it's pursuing an appeal.

Health care accounts for one out of every $5 spent in the United States. Expensive drugs and medical devices have received public scrutiny, but only recently have hospitals come under the microscope.

The health provider and insurer disagree on reimbursement policies and rates.

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates nearly 400,000 people would be covered if North Carolina expands Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

In a few weeks, a major health care program in North Carolina will get a total overhaul. But some Medicaid beneficiaries still have questions and concerns about the new system two weeks before it begins.

Ana Chagoyán lost her 40-year-old brother Juan from what a Charlotte hospital says was COVID-19 pneumonia. Before Juan's death on July 20, Ana said, her...