Chart: NC Medicaid has drastically reduced cost growth since 1990

Over the weekend, Governor Pat McCrory continued on his theme of “Medicaid is broken and costs are out of control” in a number of interviews. This reflects the talking points in this week’s NC Senate budget release that blame Medicaid for every budget woe in the state. It’s enormously disappointing that McCrory is not being challenged in these interviews with some basic facts about NC Medicaid that show far from being broken, it is actually a model program in reducing costs. In fact, why not ask him about this one easy chart? Over the last twenty years North Carolina has gone from an annual growth rate in Medicaid costs of 14% to today’s 3.5% growth rate (the lowest in the nation). North Carolina leads the nation in reducing Medicaid growth responsibly.