North Raleigh Today

A new report by the John Locke Foundation, a North Carolina conservative nonprofit research group, claimed that Gov. Roy Cooper's estimated expense for the Medicaid expansion undershot the actual price tag by approximately $50 million.

The foundation's report, released in late September, said that Cooper's predicted price of $119.3 million would look more like $171.3 million. The governor is underestimating the number of people who would enroll in Medicaid and how much each patient would cost.

John Locke Foundation's research comes after the Medicaid expansion has been a topic in the governor's dealings with the GOP-controlled Legislature. 

The proposed expansion would offer health coverage to North Carolina residents who earn less than 138% of the federal poverty level. 

The Carolina Journal reported on Oct. 20 that North Carolina is one of 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid and only offers the program to the disabled, elderly, blind, pregnant or low-income. 

While the federal government would cover 90% of the Medicaid expansion, the state is on the hook for the remainder. The Carolina Journal reported that Cooper plans to set the rest of the costs on prepaid health plans and hospitals. 

Jordan Roberts, a health policy analyst at the foundation and the author of the report, said that the expansion will come at a bigger price than the hospitals and health plans agreed to. 

"The amount of money that Cooper thinks he's going to raise from that revenue falls short," Roberts told the Journal.