Keep in touch: state leaders still need to hear from us

It is hard to believe sometimes that one person can make a difference. But in our quest for Medicaid relief, I believe that is exactly what is happening. That one person is you.

When the House rolled out its budget in early May, the spending plan included a one-time appropriation of $60 million in Medicaid relief for counties for 2007-08. Half of that would go to all counties, and half would go to counties with Medicaid eligible populations greater than 25 percent.

By the time the House had completed its required third vote on May 11, that number had been upped to $100 million, with $50 million going to all counties, $40 million to counties with at least 25 percent Medicaid eligible populations, and $10 million to counties whose Medicaid eligible populations are greater than 20 percent and less than 25 percent.

After details of the House’s spending plan began to surface in early May, county commissioners around the state began making phone calls, sending e-mails and making personal visits to their legislators to let them know that the $60 million, while greatly appreciated, was simply not enough. When some more money became available in the days leading up to the required second and third roll call votes, the legislators immediately decided to appropriate an additional $40 million to counties for Medicaid relief.

More on Medicaid relief

The amendment was sponsored by Rep. Bill Owens (Pasquotank) on May 10 along with roughly 50 other amendments. When the amendment was voted on later that same day, the vote was unanimous to up the amount of Medicaid relief. Numerous legislators from both sides of the aisle commented about the need to do something more for counties on the Medicaid front.

This is an important step in our Medicaid battle. For the second year in a row, legislators appear intent on including some form of Medicaid relief in the state budget. The Senate has already begun discussing a plan that would swap some county revenues for complete Medicaid relief.

Although the final relief is yet to be determined, the great work of county commissioners around the state has put us in a strong position. We have received commitments from Gov. Mike Easley, the House and Senate to address this situation during this session. Needless to say, they would not have made Medicaid relief a priority were it not for the efforts of individual county commissioners across the state.