April 27, 2020
The NC General Assembly returns for the short session on Tuesday, April 28th. The House Select Committee on COVID-19, Health Care Work Group has used the interim since the pandemic has impacted the world to gather input. Health Care and each of the other work groups will develop legislative recommendations—both policy and funding—that will be filed as bills when the session begins. While the Senate did not hold public meetings prior to the short session, presumably they will also have legislative recommendations to address the pandemic. The Governor has also submitted a proposed budget spending plan related to State’s COVID-19 response.
The Health Care Work Group has been hearing from organizations about community needs in response to the pandemic, and they have been receiving recommendations for legislative action. In addition, several BH/IDD organizations have submitted comments via the comment portal for the Committee.
The NC Collaborative for Children, Youth and Families Research and Policy Work Group identified three key areas for the legislature to address:
NCCCYF also noted to legislators that families need general supports for issues related to their children’s educational exceptional needs, as well as housing, transportation, homelessness and other issues related to job losses and the stress of the pandemic quarantine restrictions.
All seven of the LME/MCOs collaborated on a joint statement to the House Select Committee. Their recommendations highlight the needs of communities across the State, and some of their focus references provisions that have been included in the budget proposal for this fiscal year that have yet to be passed:
LME/MCOs have already been working closely with NC DHHS and freeing up funds, where they have been provided flexibility, to address their community’s increased behavioral health and I-DD needs. These strategies are important and, with the increased support from the legislature, communities can serve the increased current and future behavioral health needs of community members from COVID-19.
Follow this link to review recommendations that were submitted to the Health Care Work Group from NC DHHS and private organizations.
Coronavirus Relief Fund Spending: Health Care Work Group Proposal
The Health Care Work Group created a spreadsheet of funding provisions, referencing a Coronavirus Relief Fund. This is likely a combination of the federal CARES Act funding, other federal funding and some State funding. The majority of the funding provisions in the Health Care Work Group proposal remain in place as long as there is a State of Emergency or through the end of 2020.
TOTAL DOLLARS TO BE ALLOCATED: $688.5 million
Those dollars come from:
Coronavirus Relief Fund $480.1 million
Medicaid Receipts$208.4 million
Some key items are:
| Provision | Coronavirus Relief Fund | Medicaid Receipts | Additional Notes |
| Enhanced Public Health capacity | $ 25 M | ||
| Enhanced Behavioral Health capacity | $ 25 M= | ||
| Funds for LME/MCOs for crisis services and services for uninsured | $12.4 M | ||
| Per diem ICF/IDD services billed through LME/MCOs | $12.6 M | ||
| Funds for additional Medicaid costs | $ 40,000,000 | ||
| Medicaid 5% provider rate increases | $ 68.4 M | $25 M non-federal share through FMAP increase | |
| Medicaid coverage for COVID-19 testing for uninsured | Federally funded | ||
| Temporary Medicaid coverage | $140 M | $50 M non-federal share through FMAP increase | |
| Temporary provider enrollment changes | |||
| Increase State supply of PPE, other equipment & supplies | $50 M | ||
| Testing, contact tracing, and trends tracking & analysis | $25 M | ||
| Food, safety, shelter, child care | $25 M (some specified spending below) | Also includes adult & child protective services; homeless & domestic violence shelters, housing security; child care; technology for emergency relief | |
| Food banks | $6 M | ||
| Reinvestment Partners: Produce Prescription Program | $2.5 M | ||
| Supplemental payments for foster care | $2.25 M | ||
| Financial assistance for special assistance facilities | $25 M | ||
| Rural & underserved communities | $25 M | ||
| Rural hospitals | $75 M | ||
| Free & charitable clinics | $1.4 M | ||
| NC MedAssist | $1.5 M | ||
| Teaching Hospitals Relief Fund | $25 M | ||
| General Hospital Relief Fund | $25 M | ||
| Response Research Fund | $110 M= | ||
| Vaccine Development through 4 universities | $25 M each | ||
| Community and rural-focused primary care workforce response | $10 M |
The House Select Committee on COVID-19 Health Care Work Group also has three other work groups that have drafted bills. They are: Education, Economic Support and Continuity of State. Their recommendations are below.
Education:
The Education Work Group developed multiple recommendations related to K-12 education that will be turned into two bills—one related to policy and one related to funding. The total funding recommendation for K-12 education is approximately $377 million that will be appropriated to the NC Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI), fulfilling much of the Department’s request. Many of the policy recommendations are intended to waive current requirements in areas such as testing, class size, school growth expectations, etc. An additional $141.5 million in appropriations is recommended for universities and colleges.
Most notably, $55 million is included in the funding request for anticipated costs related to “Specialized Personnel,” including school social workers, psychologists, nurses and counselors, and contracts with LME/MCOs for mental health services when schools re-open.
Other K-12 funding requests include:
School Nutrition to provide meals to children and cover operating costs $56 M
Summer Bridge-Jump Start program for disadvantaged students $70 M
Digital Learning $150.3 M
Exceptional Children extended-year services $17.9 M
Residential School cleaning and remote learning$$621,000
Supplemental Pay to transportation and nutrition employees $21.6 M
Cybersecurity $5.5 M
Economic Support:
The Economic Work Group developed a draft bill that will allocate $75 million from the State’s General Fund to provide small businesses located in North Carolina with loans up to $50,000. The loans will be administered through the Golden Long-Term Economic Advancement Foundation, Inc. (Golden LEAF) and require qualifying businesses to repay loans before they repay any federal loans. The loans will be provided at a 4% – 5.5% interest rate with up to 66 months to repay.
While the Economic Support Work Group did not address this in their draft bill, they did receive approximately 1,500 comments from North Carolinians who are in support of re-opening the State.
Continuity of State Operations:
The Continuity of State Operations Work Group focused their bill recommendations on providing flexibility and waivers in areas to note the following: