McCrory Now Backing Into Medicaid Expansion

We certainly missed this story from earlier this week, but it appears that the McCrory administration is caving -- slowly caving -- on the issue of Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, which health care advocates have been screaming about for almost two years. "Options" are supposedly being developed for McCrory, who will present his recommendation to the meat grinder in the General Assembly.

We hesitate to give McCrory any credit whatsoever for political calculation, but by January 2015 there are bound to be changes in the General Assembly, some of which might improve the ability of the majority there to think beyond their ideological ruts. Nothing focuses the mind like a reminder of mortality.

Below are excerpts from interviews with McCrory's administrator of the Department of Health and Human Services, Aldona Wos, and with NC’s Medicaid Director Dr. Robin Cummings (original, much longer interview by Tim Boyum of Time Warner Cable News is here, and the interview with David Crabtree and Laura Leslie of WRAL News is here). Hattip to Adam Searing for the excerpts and for shining a light on this development.