About 1,700 Forsyth children to receive NC Medicaid

Those children, as well as about 55,000 statewide, currently are being covered through the NC Health Choice program.

The Forsyth total is the fourth most in the state, trailing Mecklenburg County at 4,937, Wake County at 4,078 and Guilford County at 2,385.

DHHS said affected children with NC Health Choice do not need to do anything to move to the Medicaid program. The children will begin receiving additional physical and behavioral health services.

While NC Medicaid is funded primarily through the federal Medicaid program, NC Health Choice is funded through the federal Children's Health Insurance Program, known by the acronym CHIP.

DHHS said the change "will help save families money and increase access to care."

DHHS said the switch will affect the following children and their families in the remaining Triad and Northwest N.C. counties: Alamance (767); Alleghany (50); Ashe (128); Davidson (952); Davie (190); Randolph (848); Rockingham (386); Stokes (178); Surry (397); Watauga (178); Wilkes (334) and Yadkin (260).

A provision included in the 2022-23 state budget, approved in July, directed DHHS to move NC Health Choice beneficiaries to the Medicaid program. North Carolina joins 17 other states that have combined Medicaid/CHIP programs for children.

Dave Richard, state deputy secretary Medicaid, said the shift includes providing beneficiaries with additional assistance getting to and from medical appointments through non-emergency medical transportation services and early and periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment.

Richard said the shift represents "a benefit designed to discover and treat health conditions before they become serious."

The shift also signifies that families with children moving to NC Medicaid will no longer have to pay enrollment fees or copays for medical visits and prescriptions.

Affected families will get additional details on the shift by early March in a letter from their county Department of Social Services.

The children will get a new Medicaid ID card in the mail but their actual Medicaid identification will not change. They can continue to use the card they have now until the new one arrives.

For more information, visit the NC Health Choice webpage at medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/nc-health-choice-move-medicaid.

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