• The N.C. Senate may pass the state budget proposal as early as today (Thursday), but County Medicaid relief is not in there.

By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

Columbus County commissioners looking for Medicaid relief from the state won’t find it in the Senate’s latest budget proposal.

Legislators took $100 million out of the budget for one-time Medicaid relief. A House proposal that would have given Columbus County $3.4 million toward it’s $6 million-plus Medicaid share. The one-time relief is replaced with the Senate’s intent to consider some form of permanent relief.

“It will be considered as a separate issue down the road,” Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. said Wednesday. He said he is “confident” the Senate will look at taking over the counties’ entire share.

“It’s like cooking a cake, you can’t eat it until it is done,” Soles said. “It’s an extremely complicated issue.”

He pointed out the House version offered only one-time relief. “The Senate would like to get them (counties) out of the Medicaid business permanently,” Soles said. He couldn’t say how soon the Senate would vote on the Medicaid issue.

“It kind of changes from hour to hour,” he said, pointing out Sen. Tony Rand and Sen. Dan Clodfelter both introduced bills now at the forefront of debate.

The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners appears to be in support of Clodfelter’s plan that calls for the state to completely take over the county share of Medicaid costs in exchange for county revenues that “fall short” of the county Medicaid cost.

“His plan is predicated on three principles of importance to counties and is in keeping with the NCACC Board’s Medicaid relief strategy – counties would not need to raise taxes for Medicaid relief, all counties would be held harmless for any net loss due to the swap, and counties would be granted additional revenue authority targeted at infrastructure funding,” the NCACC website reads.

Rand’s bill calls for the state to take over the entire county share also but in exchange for a 1-cent sales tax revenue to be turned over to the state while giving the counties authority to levy an additional 1-cent sales tax to make up for the lost revenue.

Soles said the Senate is looking closely at the two bills but they will be discussed separately from the budget.

“We’re trying to see which one would suit us the best,” Soles said.

Meanwhile, Columbus County taxpayers wait to see what commissioners will do with a $76 million dollar budget proposal that calls for a 12-cent tax increase. In budget talks last week commissioners were told Social Services had given up $600,000 from a special adult services program, bringing the tax increase proposal down to 10 cents per $100 value.

The county Medicaid share is budgeted at last year’s $5.4 million while costs are expected to exceed $6 million in fiscal 2007-2008.