(The Center Square) – North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has proposed spending more than $1.3 million over the next two years to improve health care in the state.
The money would be used to help reduce the shortage of health care workers in the state, expand rural health centers and other improvements. The extra state spending could trigger more federal dollars, the governor said.
“To ensure North Carolinians can access the health care they need, this budget invests more than $770 million in the first year of the biennium and more than $580 million in the second year of the biennium, by leveraging federal funding,” the governor’s office said.
It includes $208.5 million for a new children’s hospital in the Triangle area and $10 million to independent colleges and universities in the state to increase the number of health care professions. It also calls for $2 million to the North Carolina Area Health Education Center to expand the number of nurses.
It proposes an additional 1% raise for nurses employed by the state, giving them a total of 3% in pay hikes.
Stein proposes nearly $40 million over the next two years to increase the number of primary care and obstetricians-gynecologists in North Carolina’s Medicaid program.
“Governor Stein’s budget strengthens the health of all North Carolinians by promoting affordable health care, supporting rural clinics, helping people who are struggling with substance use disorder, and ensuring people have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink,” the governor’s office said in a news release.
The governor’s budget, however, does not include enough funding to balance the deficits in the state employees and retiree health plan, State Treasurer Brad Briner told The Center Square.
“When we originally met with the governor’s team around this, we asked for a lot more money than ended up in the budget,” Briner said. “I am not surprised because the budget is tight.”
The health care plan is running a deficit of about $600 million a year, Briner said. The governor’s budget proposal calls for an additional $100 million, which would still leave the deficit at $500 million.
The board that governs the state health care plan is considering a premium hike to help erase the deficit.
“What his proposal effectively assures is that premiums get raised to a level that we talked about in our discussions on the state health plan,” the treasurer said.
