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plan would be
cop out by state
Potential legislation that would allow counties to raise their sales tax by a penny to relieve them of the funds they are forced to reimburse the state in Medicaid expenses is a cop out.
North Carolina is the only state that requires its counties to participate in Medicaid reimbursement, a federal health program that assists children, the disabled and the poor.
Medicaid is expected to increase a staggering 10 percent annually. Last year, Columbus County taxpayers had to pay an unbelievable $6.8 million to support this federal program. The current system is grossly unfair because rural counties like Columbus have a disproportionately high number of people on Medicaid compared to urban counties.
The state proposal, according to The Fayetteville Observer, would allow counties to raise their sales tax by 1 cent (it’s already 7 cents) and “trade out” the money to the state for the counties’ share of Medicaid.
Initially, the state would get $1 billion in revenues while the counties’ share of Medicaid is $539 million. Advocates say the windfall for the state would be erased in three years, but the nearly 100 percent profit margin the first year is too much.
Many county commissions across the state support the measure in part because they’ll do anything to get the Medicaid gorilla off their backs.
The bill’s backers deserve some credit for moving to eliminate Medicaid reimbursements from counties, but if this bill is approved, there needs to be assurances that counties will never be forced to participate in Medicaid reimbursements again.
If that’s not so, sales taxes, long considered regressive, will go through the roof.