Nearly 40 employees connected to North Carolina’s Medicaid Ombudsman program, including nine at Pisgah Legal Services, will lose their jobs by the end of the year because of a $33 million shortfall in the state’s Medicaid Managed Care Oversight Fund.
The Medicaid Ombudsman program, which connects thousands of beneficiaries to resources and advice and which Legal Aid of North Carolina has run since 2021 for the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, will move to NCDHHS’ Division of Health Benefits on Jan. 1, department officials told Asheville Watchdog.
“Due to underfunding of the Medicaid Oversight Fund, cuts separate from the Medicaid rebase shortfall, the NC Medicaid Ombudsman contract with Legal Aid of North Carolina (LANC) will end on December 31, 2025, without renewal,” NCDHHS spokesperson James Werner said, adding that Medicaid Ombudsman staff at LANC were informed of the change Aug. 26…