In late May, less than two months after the postpartum extension went into effect, a draft bill to fully expand Medicaid in North Carolina was leaked to the press. Under the American Rescue Plan, the 12 states that have resisted Medicaid expansion can receive an additional 5 percent in federal funding for the first two years if they expand the program now. The full expansion would add roughly 500,000 to 600,000 people to North Carolina’s Medicaid rolls, although it’s unclear how many of those people already gained coverage during Covid.