With limited funding going back into the Healthy Opportunities Pilot Program and plans underway to create a health-focused care hub in New Hanover County, local nonprofit leaders are staying optimistic.
HOP is an experimental program that uses Medicaid money to help people with food, transportation, housing, and mental health. Its main premise is that those things, often referred to as the social determinants of health, directly contribute to people’s health.
Last summer, the program was suspended due to a lack of state funding. When the state passed its new budget last week, it restored $25 million to the program. That was through a one-time appropriation of $9 million in state money and $16 million in federal money. According to North Carolina Health News, state officials originally asked for $80 million to restore HOP…