Children needing coverage for around-the-clock medical attention may be placed on a waiting list, as North Carolina ceased adding children to a Medicaid waiver program Monday, The News & Observer reported.
The Medicaid waiver program — Community Alternatives Program for Children — does not have an income threshold like regular Medicaid, as it is for "medically fragile" children in need of feeing tubes and ventilation, among other things. The program pays for additional services Medicaid usually does not cover.
A federal wavier for the program expired June 2015 but North Carolina has been granted extensions to keep the program going since, according to the report. This June, the government told North Carolina it had to begin a wait list, as the state anticipated to have 1,700 children in the program but actually had about 2,400 as of June. Affected individuals were not notified of the wait list until a week ago.
The wait list will not end until a new waiver is granted, which state officials plan to apply for in December.
The program's current extension ends in September for children already on the program, though state Medicaid officials hope to acquire another extension until the end of this year.
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