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North Carolina readies for launch of Medicaid tailored plans July 1

North Carolina has initiated a bilingual awareness campaign in advance of this summer’s launch of tailored plans for eligible Medicaid beneficiaries. 

Tailored plans are an outgrowth of the NC Medicaid Managed Care health plans that cover roughly 210,000 beneficiaries. The tailored plans are a one-stop coverage umbrella for those with behavioral health issues or intellectual or developmental disabilities. According to a news release from the North Carlina Department of Health and Human Services, eligible residents enrolled in NC Medicaid Direct will be covered by a tailored plan beginning July 1.

The plans are meant to address needs regarding physical and behavioral health, home and community-based services, and mainstays of well-being including food, transportation and housing.

NCDHHS has released a bilingual tailored plan toolkit to help people understand and manage the transition.

Those moving to tailored plans will receive a letter in mid-April and will need to choose a primary care provider by May 15.

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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