North Carolina is only three weeks away from a major transformation of its Medicaid system and a new poll shows most people don't know about it.
The program will soon be administered by private insurance plans – instead of the current fee for service. A survey by the nonprofit - North Carolina for Better Medicaid finds that two out of three people know little to nothing about the change that could affect who and where their doctors are.
Patsy Powell Davis is executive director of the local community action agency Mountain Projects .
Mountain Projects works on affordable housing, food access, transportation (the nonprofit runs Haywood Transit) and other services. Some of those areas will be impacted by the new system – plus Mountain Projects will be available to help folks who have questions:
“There’s people there to help. There’s numbers they can call. If they need support we can guide them and get them to the right place,” said Powell Davis, who is also a member of North Carolina for Better Medicaid. “All of us are here to help and support and we will certainly do that for anyone who needs any kind of support through this transition.”
Those numbers include Mountain Projects, North Carolina for Better Medicaid and NC DHHS. You can call NC DHHS at 1-833-870-5500 or chat online at https://ncmedicaidplans.gov/learn.
Over 200,000 enrollees chose their new managed care plan but 1.4 million people were automatically assigned to a program, according to NC Health News.
North Carolina’s Medicaid transformation goes into effect on July 1st.
