North Carolina is on track to become the 40th state to expand Medicaid, potentially providing state-funded healthcare to over 600,000 more people. Expanded Medicaid would enable the state to “bring in billions of dollars in federal funds to help stabilize rural hospitals and add to the state’s General Fund to address issues such as our growing mental health crisis,” wrote Cynthia Charles, vice president of communications and public relations at the North Carolina Healthcare Association, in a statement. Medicaid could expand healthcare access to underfunded groups within Durham, allowing greater access to services provided by Duke Health.