North Carolina Health News

Established in November 2011 as a nonprofit organization in North Carolina, NCHN is a dedicated news outlet focused on health care issues within the state. We pride ourselves on our independence, steering clear of any connections to political parties, special interest groups, or activist organizations. Our goal is to bridge the growing gap in health care media coverage by developing a comprehensive website that delivers essential information about health care in North Carolina. NCHN will showcase original articles and in-depth features authored by skilled health journalists like Rose Hoban, Taylor Sisk, and others.

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Here are the health provisions in the NC Senate and House budgets - compared

5 days ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Grace Vitaglione |Rose Hoban

North Carolina state lawmakers will probably leave Raleigh without passing a budget before the new fiscal year starts on July 1. Likely sticking points are the two chambers’ different approaches to taxes and funding for a new children’s hospital to be built in the Triangle, among other issues. The Senate and House of Representatives each passed their own proposed spending plan earlier this spring.
By the numbers: Medicaid work requirement could strip coverage from thousands in N.C.

1 week ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Jaymie Baxley

A federal proposal to impose a work requirement on Medicaid recipients could have far-reaching consequences for North Carolinians who rely on the government-funded health insurance program.
NC Senate Republicans seek to define biological sex, dismiss gender identity

1 week ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Grace Vitaglione |Rachel Crumpler

State lawmakers at the North Carolina General Assembly are pondering another bill that would affect transgender people — the latest in a string of legislation targeting this population that has been introduced in recent years. Some of it has become law. Senate Republicans added language to House Bill 805, which was originally written to regulate online pornography, that would recognize only two sexes in state government rules and public policies. The language echoes President Donald Trump’s Jan.
Ambulance companies collect millions by seizing wages, state tax refunds

1 week ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Michelle Crouch |Charlotte Ledger

The Charlotte LedgerWhen Christy Owca’s 17-year-old son flipped his Jeep in a crash in 2019, she was grateful that an ambulance got him to the hospital quickly and that his injuries turned out to be minor. So when the first bill from Gaston County’s ambulance agency came, she didn’t think twice about paying the $61 fee. But more bills kept coming. Then came statements from her health insurance company, each showing a different amount she owed just for the ambulance ride.
New dashboard empowers North Carolinians to track air pollution

2 weeks ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Will Atwater

Richie Harding, a 54-year-old resident of Northampton County, is surrounded by places that produce air pollution. “A little over two miles south of me, there’s a wood pellet facility,” he said. “About a mile away, in the woods, there’s a hog CAFO. And Interstate 95 is about a quarter-mile east.”Harding, who has for years used an inhaler for his asthma, says he and many of his neighbors live with chronic health conditions that could be linked to nearby sources of pollution.
Short ambulance ride, big bill

2 weeks ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Michelle Crouch |Charlotte Ledger

The Charlotte LedgerAfter Cathy Head of Charlotte fell and fractured her shoulder in 2023, she was pleased that her health insurance covered almost all of the expenses for her care: the emergency room visit, the physician’s charges and months of physical therapy. Then she got the ambulance bill. For a 4.5-mile ride to Novant Health Matthews Medical Center, Head was charged $1,397. Of that, Head’s insurance paid just $130, she said.
NC State Health Plan may take legal action against vendor CVS Caremark

3 weeks ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Grace Vitaglione

The health plan that covers some 750,000 current and former state employees and their families has hit a stone wall in negotiations with its pharmacy benefit manager, CVS Caremark, and is pondering legal action against the company, the Office of the State Treasurer announced on June 5. The company owes the state tens of millions of dollars and is trying to rewrite their contract to get out of having to pay it back, State Treasurer Brad Briner claimed in an exclusive interview with NC Health News.
They ‘won’t get food’: Healthy Opportunities advocates press lawmakers to reconsider ending funding

3 weeks ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Grace Vitaglione |Jaymie Baxley

In 2022, Christina Schnabel was a single mom in Hendersonville barely making ends meet. She lived in public housing and made do with help from services like Medicaid and SNAP. Her son suffered from chronic gastrointestinal symptoms. That changed after she started volunteering with a local nonprofit called Caja Solidaria. The organization was one of the community partners in the Healthy Opportunities Pilot, a Medicaid program that tackled nonmedical health needs of low-income North Carolinians.
Proposed SNAP cuts trouble NC food assistance programs

3 weeks ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Anne Blythe

Many in the food assistance world say they live by the adage “prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”That’s what Amy Beros, president and chief executive officer of Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina told NC Health News after the federal government first started notifying anti-hunger organizations of pending cuts to the Emergency Food Assistance Program.
Advocates protest pesticide measure in N.C. Senate bill

3 weeks ago | northcarolinahealthnews.org | Grace Vitaglione |Will Atwater

People dressed in green filled the seats at a North Carolina Senate committee hearing on May 14 — their clothes an act of protest against this year’s Senate version of the North Carolina Farm Act bill, a provision of which would limit liability for pesticide manufacturers. Bill co-sponsor Sen.