Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry sent a letter to the North Carolina Division of Medical Assistance concerning H.R. 3962, the healthcare legislation pending before Congress.

The legislation imposes unfunded mandates on states to pay for an expansion of Medicaid.

“As the vote on this legislation nears, it is important to understand the impact it will have on North Carolina.  Our state is facing a revenue and budget crisis that could well be exacerbated by unfunded mandates from the federal government,” stated Congressman McHenry.

Governor Perdue and the Democratic General Assembly recently enacted a series of tax increases on North Carolinians.

The letter reads as follows:

Dr. Craigan L. Gray, MD, MBA, JD
Director
North Carolina Division of Medical Assistance
1985 Umstead Dr.
Raleigh, NC 27603-2001

Dear Dr. Gray,

    As H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, is debated on the House floor this week, I wanted to reach out to your agency as a valuable resource for how some of the proposed changes will affect the state of North Carolina.  H.R. 3962 mandates that all states raise Medicaid enrollment to 150% of the federal poverty level.  H.R. 3962 also raises the Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMP) to 91% of this expansion cost by 2019. 

    According to estimates by the National Conference of State Legislatures, raising enrollment eligibility to 133% of the federal poverty level and capping FMAP at 95% would create a cost of $1.216 billion to the North Carolina state budget in 2014-2019. 

    It is apparent then that the additional expansion of eligibility to 150% of the poverty line, coupled with the lower compensation rate will create an even greater burden on our state coffers.  For this reason, I would like to ask you for an estimate of the projected obligations that passage of H.R. 3962 would have on the state of North Carolina. 

    I sincerely appreciate your timely attention to this matter.

                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                Patrick McHenry
                                                                Member of Congress


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