Auditor relaunches review of NC Medicaid project that costs hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars

North Carolina has spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars trying to modernize the computer system that helps run the state’s Medicaid program — an overhaul intended to improve care, pay healthcare providers faster and give the state better tools to detect waste and fraud.

The state auditor is now reopening an investigation into the nearly decade-old project, WRAL Investigates has learned. 

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The new computer system was supposed to be fully installed by the end of June 2024. But state officials now tell WRAL the remaining work won't be finished until the end of 2029. 

In the meantime, North Carolina is paying a contractor more than $600 million to keep its existing Medicaid system running. And the state might have to shell out even more to keep the legacy system — called NCTracks — running after summer 2027.

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The federal memo warned that North Carolina was anticipating a four-year delay, pushing the project beyond 10 years and likely adding hundreds of millions of dollars in costs. Bush now says the remaining work is expected to be completed by the end of 2029, making it a nearly 13-year rollout. That’s twice the amount of time it has taken some other states, including Virginia and Texas, to implement the same system.

Read the full story on WRAL.com.