Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE — Governor Roy Cooper and Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley today announced all eligible hospitals in North Carolina have signed on to their innovative plan to relieve medical debt for millions of people across the state. As of today, all of the state’s 99 eligible hospitals have committed to participate in North Carolina’s medical debt relief incentive program.

MEDIA ADVISORY — The federal 988 Director Monica Johnson and leaders from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration are visiting North Carolina Thursday to tour the 988 Call Center (REAL Crisis Center) in Greenville, tour a Community Crisis Center (Recovery Innovations) and later host a roundtable discussion in Durham to learn more about and highlight the success of North Carolina’s 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and Peer Warmline. North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley and NCDHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services Director Kelly Crosbie will accompany Director Johnson to both sites.

PRESS RELEASE — As children across North Carolina head back to school this month, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reminds families that vaccinations are an important part of back-to-school success and overall health and well-being.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced a significant expansion of the North Carolina Human Donor Milk Program, adding five new donor depots across the state. This initiative, led by the NCDHHS Division of Public Health in partnership with WakeMed, aims to enhance the availability of pasteurized human donor milk to support the health and well-being of infants, particularly those who are premature or medically fragile.

PRESS RELEASE — As North Carolinians experience the impacts of Tropical Storm Debby, officials with the North Carolina Emergency Management and the Department of Health and Human Services warns against use of gasoline-powered generators, outdoor grills and camp stoves in enclosed spaces.

PRESS RELEASE — North Carolinians can take action to better prepare private wells for a flood ahead of Tropical Storm Debby. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has issued guidance to help keep your well safe before and after a flood.

PRESS RELEASE — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and NC Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley today gave an update at Care Ring in Charlotte on their plan to incentivize hospitals to relieve medical debt for millions of low- and middle-income North Carolinians. Participants spoke about the impact of relieving up to $4 billion in medical debt for people in the state, as well as the program’s potential reach in the Mecklenburg County area.

PRESS RELEASE — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Spanish-language Cafecito and tele-town hall on Tuesday, Aug. 6, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss who is newly eligible for Medicaid under expansion, ways to apply, how to access application support in Spanish and which qualified immigration statuses are eligible for health care coverage.

PRESS RELEASE — Today, Governor Roy Cooper joined North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services leadership and a representative from Walgreens for an announcement on Medicaid coverage in Chapel Hill. As part of NCDHHS and the Governor’s continued work to expand access to reproductive health services, NC Medicaid will begin covering over-the-counter contraception in pharmacies across the state. Starting Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, the oral contraceptive Opill will be available through local and retail pharmacies without a prescription, at no cost for NC Medicaid beneficiaries. Opill is the first over-the-counter oral contraception that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

PRESS RELEASE — Millions of low- and middle- income North Carolinians are one step closer to medical debt relief. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved on Friday, July 26 Governor Roy Cooper and the NC Department of Health and Human Services’ plan to use the state's Medicaid program to incentivize hospitals to relieve more than a decade of existing medical debt for eligible North Carolinians and prevent accumulation of new debt going forward.