By now you’ve probably heard about the health insurance exchanges that are part of the federal Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare. But some North Carolina employers are looking at private health insurance exchanges as a way to provide coverage to their employees at a lower cost than the ObamaCare government insurance program can offer. Carolina Journal Managing Editor Rick Henderson explains how the private exchanges work and why interest in them is growing as ObamaCare becomes a reality. Then we turn to a curious financial issue for state government. Scandal at the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center already has led to resignations of the center director and board chair. Now some state lawmakers are interested in recovering some of the $20 million in interest earnings the center had accumulated on unspent state grants over the years. You’ll hear highlights from a recent discussion of the topic between legislators and State Auditor Beth Wood. Next is a look at politics. U.S. House Republican Leader Eric Cantor recently reminded political observers how important North Carolina’s 2014 U.S. Senate race is to Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C. In a news conference, Cantor included N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan among a list of four Democrats targeted for previous support of the controversial Obamacare legislation. That’s followed by a look at Medicaid. As North Carolina pursues Medicaid reform, state officials do not have to make decisions in a vacuum. Jonathan Ingram, director of research at the Florida-Based Foundation for Government Accountability, has followed successes and failures with Medicaid reforms across the country. He discusses the models North Carolina should emulate. And finally, we look at factors influencing how people choose a college or university. George Leef of the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy explains why relying on rankings such as the one released each year by U.S. News is a problem for those who don’t understand the factors that go into the ranking, some of which may be of little importance to parents and students.
N.C. Companies Turn To Private Health Exchanges
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