NC House Bill 76 (“Access to Healthcare Options”)

Governor Cooper signed into law a bill that may greatly impact our patients and our practices. NC House Bill 76 expands access to Medicaid and changes the CON law. 

For us and our patients, the law’s major impacts are:

1.      Expands Medicaid to cover people ages 18-64 earning up to 133% of the federal poverty level. This will provide new coverage for an estimated 600k North Carolinians.

2.      Exempts ambulatory surgical centers from CON review but delays this for 2 years after implementation of the law and applies only to counties with population >125k.

While it has been passed by the legislature and signed, there is a trigger in the law that delays implementation until passage of the 2024 state budget. While that is expected to be done this June, it is subject to the usual political machinations.

For more details, click here for the summary.

Best,

Bill

William E. Downey, MD FACC FSCAI

Governor, NC Chapter of the American College of Cardiology

Vice-Chair, Quality and Care Transformation

Atrium Cardiovascular Enterprise

Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute