Federal Shutdown Ends
Late Sunday night, the Senate approved a deal to reopen the federal government following a 43-day shutdown. The measure passed with support from eight Democrats and includes provisions to keep the government open through January 30, three full-year funding bills, reversal of layoffs implemented during the shutdown, and back pay for federal employees. As part of the deal to end the shutdown, Senate Republicans agreed to hold a vote by the end of the second week of December on the soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 222-209 and was signed by President Trump on Wednesday night, officially reopening the federal government. There are still some questions about how quickly funding will be reinstated for federal programs, and counties should look for official communications from state and federal departments for specific details.
No Special Session for Medicaid Funding
At the end of last week, Governor Stein called the General Assembly into a special session on November 17 to fully fund Medicaid. Each year, the state updates the Medicaid budget to reflect changes in enrollment, service costs, and other factors to ensure adequate funding for the program. This process is known as the Medicaid rebase. The House and Senate passed separate bills to address the issue, but no final agreement was reached. This disagreement led to neither bill advancing, prompting the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) to reduce Medicaid provider payments by 3-10% due to insufficient funding.
The governor has constitutional authority to recall the General Assembly to Raleigh to address a specific issue in an extra legislative session. This authority isn’t used very often and will mark the first time in seven years that a governor has called a special session. Legislative leadership in the House and Senate announced that they do not intend to convene as called by the governor, citing concerns about the constitutionality of the special session. This means that for the time being, Medicaid will continue to operate with the 3-10% provider reductions enacted by NCDHHS.