(The Center Square) – Sessions in each chamber will convene for the North Carolina General Assembly on Monday, albeit not as requested by first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein.
The governor’s request on Nov. 6 was for the Legislature to convene Monday for the purpose of funding Medicaid. Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, as respective leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives wrote Thursday to Stein advising it would not happen and was unconstitutional.
Citing, Article III, Section 5(7), the president pro tempore of the Senate and House speaker said the governor can call an “extra session” only “on extraordinary occasions.”
“Gov. Stein’s call is not extraordinary,” Berger said in a release. “This is a self-inflicted ‘crisis’ that was entirely avoidable. All Gov. Stein and the Department of Health and Human Services secretary had to do was pause their Medicaid reimbursement rate cuts.”
Added Hall in his release, “Although Gov. Stein’s own health agency confirmed Medicaid is funded through at least April 2026 – with the General Assembly appropriating $600 million for the program’s rebase – his administration cut provider rates on Oct. 1, putting care for thousands of North Carolinians at risk. Stein’s Department of Health and Human Services has since faced multiple lawsuits, with part of the cuts already enjoined in Wake County Superior Court.”
Medicaid rebase means an adjustment to fiscal support because of costs and or volume of people enrolled.
More than 3 million people, or 1 in 4, across the state are covered by Medicaid. Enrollment includes 43% of the state’s children and 67% of residents in nursing homes. Half of the state’s births are covered by Medicaid.
Hall said the House passed “three clean, standalone bills in recent months to clean up the governor’s mess and ensure North Carolina meets its obligations to patients and providers.” His release said members of the chambers have “been informed not to expect voting sessions in the Legislature next week.”
Berger said the Senate passed “several bills this session to address the growing health care affordability crisis from all angles. Beyond passing multiple bills to fully fund the Medicaid rebase based on nonpartisan fiscal projections, Senate Republicans introduced proposals to bring much-needed transparency to health care costs, including tackling surprise billing, facility fees, and repealing archaic certificate-of-need laws.”
Stein, responding late Thursday to the rejection, said in part, “Speaker Hall and President Pro Tempore Berger would rather come up with excuses than fund Medicaid for the people of North Carolina. This is the latest example of their dysfunction that has become the norm of North Carolina’s General Assembly. The Republican majority has made the time to damage our democracy with their gerrymander. But when it comes time to protect people’s health care? When it comes time to enact a comprehensive budget? They’re on vacation, and they’ll see us next year. All while North Carolina families pay the price. That’s unacceptable.”
