By skyforbes 
DHHS consistently reverts, carries forward millions, including $166 million in Medicaid funds
Sen. Berger, Speaker Hall: ‘This power was never meant to be used as a platform for political messaging or to circumvent the legislative process to achieve a preferred political outcome’
Raleigh, N.C. — Today, Legislative leaders informed Gov. Josh Stein that his call for an extra session on Monday, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m. is unconstitutional, and the two chambers will not convene the session.
In a letter sent to the Governor earlier today, Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) wrote:
“The Proclamation fails to follow the requirements of the Constitution. Article III, Section 5(7) authorizes a governor to convene the General Assembly in ‘extra session’ only ‘on extraordinary occasions.’ The General Assembly is already in session. Your Proclamation is therefore ineffective and functions as an unconstitutional attempt to usurp the General Assembly’s authority to set its calendar.
“Article III, Section 5(7) also limits such a session to ‘extraordinary occasions’ in order to ensure that the exercise of the enormous power given to the Governor to call the legislative branch to session is justified. Otherwise, the Governor could violate Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution and use the proclamation power for political abuse and gamesmanship. This power was never meant to be used as a platform for political messaging or to circumvent the legislative process to achieve a preferred political outcome.”
Gov. Stein’s call is not extraordinary. This is a self-inflicted “crisis” that was entirely avoidable. All Gov. Stein and the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary had to do was pause their Medicaid reimbursement rate cuts.
The N.C. Senate passed several bills this session to address the growing healthcare affordability crisis from all angles. Beyond passing multiple bills to fully fund the Medicaid rebase based on nonpartisan fiscal projections, Senate Republicans introduced proposals to bring much-needed transparency to healthcare costs, including tackling surprise billing, facility fees, and repealing archaic certificate-of-need laws.
The proposals also support rural healthcare initiatives from the mountains to the coast, including areas devastated by Hurricane Helene (Avery, Caldwell, Haywood, Madison, and Mitchell counties), eastern North Carolina (Duplin, Lenoir, Martin, Onslow, Pitt, Wayne, and Wilson counties), and Rockingham County in the Triad.
Instead of political gamesmanship, Gov. Stein should be working with his agency to get its financial house in order.
Nonpartisan fiscal analysts at the General Assembly found that the DHHS consistently reverts and carries forward money at the end of the fiscal year. For example, last year, the department reverted $110 million to the state’s general fund and carried forward $243 million. Medicaid funding accounted for $166 million of the carry-forward funds. When a department carries forward money at the end of the fiscal year, those dollars are eligible for use in the upcoming fiscal year.
When the General Assembly allocated an additional $600 million to address the Medicaid rebase, the Department decided to use $100 million of that to cover administrative costs, not services. The DHHS Secretary publicly admitted that there was sufficient funding available for Medicaid to operate uninterrupted until April 2026.
Despite all of that, the Department is requesting another $190 million, which represents about 2% of the total estimated $23 billion in Medicaid spending, including the federal funding.
And all of this political posturing is being done in the shadow of the court demanding that Gov. Stein and the Department halt some of their politically motivated cuts.
Gov. Stein’s trumped-up “crisis” is not “extraordinary,” and thus the General Assembly will not convene upon his call.