Association appoints subcommittee to examine impact of County Medicaid share

The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners has organized a special task force to develop and recommend possible financing options to eliminate county funding of Medicaid services. The task force will be chaired by Wake County Manager David Cooke.

More on Medicaid relief

During the 2005 legislative session, Sen. Tony Rand (Cumberland) suggested a trade of certain county sales taxes as a funding source for the state to assume all county Medicaid costs. The NCACC Board of Directors opposed such a change without further study or consideration of other options and directed staff to convene a task force of managers and finance officers to explore these options.

The task force’s recommendations will be considered by the NCACC steering committees having jurisdiction in this area — Human Resources and Taxation and Finance.

We are working with Senate leadership to finalize a Senate Select Committee as described in the study language. The House has established a broader House Select Committee on Health Care, with county Medicaid relief to be considered in its Medicaid subcommittee.

Patrice Roesler, NCACC deputy director, and Rebecca Troutman, director of research and public technology, will staff the NCACC task force.

The members of the task force are: Cherokee County Manager David Badger, Sampson County Finance Officer Sylvia Blinson, Wake County Manager David Cooke (chair); Edgecombe County Finance Officer Jo Anne Harrell, Craven County Finance Officer Rick Hemphill, Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones, Bertie County Manager Zee Lamb, Martin County Manager Russell Overman, Durham County Manager Mike Ruffin, Guilford County Social Services Director John Shore, Gaston County Manager Jan Winters, Robeson County Manager Ken Windley, Vance County Commissioner and NCACC First Vice President Terry Garrison, and Lee County Commissioner and NCACC Human Resources Steering Committee Chair Amy Stevens.