AN ACT to establish a plan to create a tiered innovations waiver program.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  The Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Benefits (DHB), is directed to consult with Local Management Entities/Managed Care Organizations (LME/MCOs) and other stakeholders to develop a plan for addressing the needs of individuals on the NC Innovations waiver waitlist. This plan shall include the creation of a tiered program consisting of three tiers, including a benefit capped at twenty‑five thousand dollars ($25,000), a benefit capped at seventy‑five thousand dollars ($75,000), and a full waiver benefit.

SECTION 2.  No later than December 1, 2026, DHB shall submit a report on the plan required by Section 1 of this act to the House of Representatives Committee on Health, the Senate Committee on Health Care, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid, and the Fiscal Research Division.

SECTION 3.  Effective July 1, 2025, there is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Benefits (DHB), the sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2025‑2026 fiscal year to be used to implement this act.

SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.