Today Governor Josh Stein highlighted the stories of Medicaid patients and providers while calling an extra session of the North Carolina General Assembly on November 17, 2025, to fund Medicaid. Governor Stein was joined by disability advocates Demi Eckhoff and Betsy MacMichael and Dr. Karen Smith, all of whom shared the impact of Medicaid on their lives.
“The stories shared today make crystal clear that Medicaid ensures access to life-saving care,” said Governor Josh Stein. “The General Assembly is using people’s health and well-being as bargaining chips in an unrelated budget dispute, and it’s shameful. The legislature must come back to Raleigh and do its job so that the three million North Carolinians who rely on Medicaid can get the care they need."
“We have spent years building a fiscally responsible, innovative Medicaid program that millions of our residents rely on for life-changing and often life-saving care,” said NC Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai. “NC Medicaid is a critical driver in the health of North Carolinians, and we all agree it needs to be fully funded. Let's come together and get it done.”
“My Direct Support Professionals are my ramp to the world and my community,” said Demi Eckhoff, a disability advocate. “A pay cut translates into potentially losing direct support professionals, which threatens my independence. If I don’t have my DSPs, I am at risk of going to the hospital, where I can’t work or study. Our disability community is fearful that these cuts will impact our basic needs and life.”
“Medicaid literally keeps our daughter alive and well, and it provides her the supports she needs to live her life as independently as possible,” said Betsy MacMichael, a disability advocate. “Without Medicaid, she would lose the independence she’s fought so hard for.”
"Medicaid is a lifeline from the very beginning right down to the end of life,” said Dr. Karen Smith, a rural family medicine doctor.
Medicaid serves more than 3 million North Carolinians. In several rural counties, more than half of the population has health coverage through NC Medicaid. Nationally, costs are rising across all parts of health care – in private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid. Medicaid has seen the lowest of these cost increases, and NC Medicaid’s costs have been growing slower than national trends for the last four years.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services first alerted the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division in May 2025 that more money would be needed to keep the Medicaid program whole. Since that time, the Governor’s Office and DHHS have consistently provided updates to the General Assembly regarding projected funding needs.
In September, following Governor Stein’s advocacy, both the House and the Senate introduced proposals aimed at fully funding Medicaid, but no final agreement was reached and cuts to Medicaid went into effect on October 1. In October, Governor Stein sent a letter to the General Assembly laying out three options to reverse cuts to Medicaid: a) fully funding NC Medicaid at $319 million in recurring funds, b) partially funding NC Medicaid at $190 million in recurring funds and delaying cuts until at least January 1, 2026, or c) using non-recurring funds from the $500 million Medicaid Contingency Reserve to fill the funding gap.
On extraordinary occasions, the Governor has constitutional authority to recall the General Assembly to Raleigh to address a specific issue in an extra legislative session. The proclamation Governor Stein issued today convenes an extra session on November 17 for the purpose of funding the Medicaid rebase.