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North Carolina Announces Medicaid Managed Care Partnerships

(FILE) Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services at a press briefing on December 30, 2020. Cohen says thousands of North Carolinians will benefit from the new system of care. Photo courtesy of the NC Department of Public Safety. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ncdps/50780663631/in/photostream/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has announced the organizations that will be part of a Medicaid Managed Care program rollout. They will administer new Behavioral Health and Intellectual/Developmental Disability Tailored Plans.

NCDHHS has selected seven behavioral health local management entities and managed care organizations that will provide mental health services to eligible North Carolina residents.

According to a news release from NCDHHS, Forsyth, Surry, Yadkin, and Davie Counties will be aligned with Partners Health Management. Forsyth is among those counties that have chosen to disengage with Cardinal Innovations Healthcare following a series of complaints against the organization.

Cardinal has consolidated with Vaya Health, which will administer services to Watauga and Wilkes counties.

Sandhills Center will provide mental health services for Guilford, Davidson, and Rockingham counties.

The tailored plans are expected to go into effect next July.

Health Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen released a statement saying her department looks forward to making the partnerships a reality for the thousands of North Carolinians who she says will benefit from the new system of care.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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