Medicaid expansion enrollment tops 400,000 in North Carolina, Governor marks with proclamation

RALEIGH, N.C -- Governor Roy Cooper will recognize people who helped enroll others during Medicaid expansion in North Carolina.

Cooper signed a proclamation at the executive mansion Tuesday morning.

This comes after the governor's office announced Medicaid expansion provided healthcare to 400,000 North Carolinians who previously didn't qualify.

Nearly 273,000 people, most of whom had received Medicaid for family-planning coverage alone, were covered on the first day of enrollment,began Dec. 1 last year.

Since then, the state has enrolled an average of more than 1,000 people a day - a rate that Cooper's office says outpaces other states that have expanded Medicaid.

"This milestone and the speed at which we've reached it shows just how life-changing Medicaid expansion is for our state and we will continue to get more eligible North Carolinians enrolled," Cooper said in a news release.

Cooper's Department of Health and Human Services projects that state enrollment under expansion will reach 600,000 within two years.

DHHS is working with an array of health organizations and nonprofits to recruit more enrollees.

Enrollment also means North Carolina is poised to receive a $1.8 billion bonus over two years from the federal government.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.