Legislators have agreed to privatize North Carolina’s $15 billion Medicaid program, a change that doctors and hospitals have been fighting for months, but which some Republican legislators have championed as a remedy for unpredictable spending.

Legislative leaders on Monday unveiled details of their compromise $21.7 billion spending plan for the 2015-16 budget year – 76 days after it was due.

North Carolina lawmakers are on the verge of finally agreeing on a way forward for the State’s Medicaid system

Yesterday’s announcement of the Medicaid reform conference committee represents one of the final legislative steps in the effort to modernize North Carolina’s Medicaid program.

The House voted unanimously Wednesday against the Senate’s proposed state Medicaid system overhaul.

A deal on Medicaid is within reach now that House Republicans have tentatively agreed to adopt a “hybrid” insurance model similar to one the Senate put forward earlier this month.

The state Senate gave tentative approval Monday to revamping North Carolina’s Medicaid program.

The bottom line-the Senate agrees with the House that doctors and hospitals need to be involved in Medicaid reform through provider led entities.

The state Senate unveiled its latest Medicaid reform initiative Thursday, compromising with the House on a bigger role for provider-led entities, but still insisting on creating a cabinet-level N.C. Medicaid Department.