New North Carolina campaign helps Medicaid enrollees adapt to upcoming coverage rules

A new effort in North Carolina is being launched to help Medicaid recipients understand upcoming federal rules and avoid losing coverage because of paperwork problems or reporting requirements.

Keep Your Care, a national campaign aimed at helping people keep Medicaid benefits, introduced its North Carolina push at a Raleigh roundtable with recipients, caregivers and lawmakers.

“No one should lose health coverage because of confusing paperwork or red tape,” said Nicole Jorwic, a co-lead of Keep Your Care.

Under the new federal rules, most adults covered through Medicaid expansion will have to show at least 80 hours a month of work, education or community service, or qualify for an exemption. States will also have to verify eligibility twice a year instead of once annually.

The campaign plans to use digital advertising, local outreach and partnerships with community groups to explain the requirements, help people determine whether they qualify for exemptions and remind them about deadlines. Enrollees and caregivers can also use the campaign website to get information and updates.

More than 700,000 North Carolinians enrolled through Medicaid expansion will be affected. Gov. Josh Stein’s office has estimated that more than 250,000 people could lose coverage under the changes.

The rules are still being contested in court. A federal ruling recently limited how the requirements can be applied to some seriously ill patients.

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson said a judge struck down a federal rule that would have required patients with cancer and other severe illnesses to prove their conditions kept them from meeting the work requirements. The state estimated that the restriction threatened coverage for 64,000 North Carolinians.

That ruling blocks enforcement of the restriction, but the rest of the Medicaid work and reporting rules remain in place for now, while another legal challenge continues in Maryland.

At the roundtable, caregivers and advocates spoke about how losing Medicaid could strain families already struggling to pay for care and disability services.

Jamie Richmond, a family navigator at the Tammy Lynn Center, described balancing her work helping families with caring for her 7-year-old son, who has autism, and her mother in Florida, who relies on Medicaid.

She said her son’s speech, music and other therapies cost about $1,400 a month out of pocket. Medicaid also helps families obtain services such as respite care, she said.

“Families need help before they reach a crisis,” she said. “And it looks like the crisis is coming faster.”

Campaign leaders said they want to reach people before the new requirements begin, including those who may be eligible for coverage but have trouble understanding or following the reporting process.

Congresswoman Deborah Ross, a Raleigh Democrat who joined the discussion, said education and outreach will be crucial as the state prepares to carry out the requirements.

Ross said Democrats could seek changes to the law if they regain control of Congress, though she did not offer specific proposals.

“One good thing about some of these changes is that they don’t go into effect immediately,” she said. “People are terrified, but we can reverse it. We can extend some of the deadlines, and we can change things around.”

The federal requirement applies to Medicaid expansion enrollees specifically. Still, advocates at the event raised concerns that additional Medicaid funding cuts could also affect people with disabilities, seniors and the families who support them.