North Carolina Budget Spares Mental Health, Medicaid Programs from ‘Huge Cuts’

Despite "grim economic circumstances," the North Carolina General Assembly on Sept. 21 approved a $14.4 billion budget in which levels of Medicaid and mental health spending were higher "than expected," the Raleigh News and Observer reports. Physicians and dentists serving Medicaid beneficiaries will see their reimbursement rates drop, but hospitals "avoided losing an inflationary increase for Medicaid services," and pharmacists will receive higher dispensing fees. Health advocate Adam Searing said, "It could have really been a lot worse. Medicaid was the fastest-growing part of this budget, and we avoided huge cuts in the program." In addition, lawmakers "not only" left alone several mental health programs "that were up for elimination earlier in the year," but also created a new $47.5 million Mental Health Trust Fund -- a "one-time" allocation to finance community programs for the mentally ill. However, "dozens" of other programs run by the state Department of Health and Human Services saw their spending reduced. Still, Gov. Mike Easley (D) said, "Traditionally, we and every other state tend to back off and maintain the status quo during tough economic times. This budget breaks through and continues to make progress" (Gardner, Raleigh News & Observer, 9/23).