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The state began moving toward managed care for Medicaid recipients Tuesday despite a persistent group of dissenters who argue that the plan rejects a system run by doctors that for years has helped hold down costs. The Senate passed House Bill 372, which overhauls Medicaid, in a 33-15 vote. There was less than five minutes of debate, though the topic has been the subject of months of discussion in Raleigh and beyond. The House then debated the bill for more than an hour before approving it 65-40. The bill now goes to Gov. Pat McCrory for his signature. (Bonner, 9/22)

North Carolina's $14 billion Medicaid health insurance system for the poor and disabled will be overhauled under a bill that cleared the General Assembly on Tuesday. The measure, House Bill 372, moves the system from a fee-for-service model in which doctors are paid for each service they provide to a managed care system and is the result of more than three years of negotiations between the House, the Senate and Gov. Pat McCrory. (Binker and Leslie, 9/22)

In a legislative session where it could be argued that most of the sharp words have been hidden behind closed doors, the General Assembly’s House of Representatives was the scene of some pointed exchanges Tuesday, as one leading Republican lawmaker picked apart a compromise Medicaid bill that had been negotiated by his own party. After the final version of the Medicaid overhaul bill had been introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives by Rep. Donny Lambeth (R-Winston-Salem), Rep. Nelson Dollar (R-Cary) stood up to oppose the bill. (Hoban, 9/22)

Far-reaching legislation designed to change how North Carolina government bills Medicaid patient treatment is going to Gov. Pat McCrory after the General Assembly approved Tuesday a final compromise measure that was years in the making. The legislation, voted for separately by the Senate and House, lays out the pathway by 2018 or 2019 to end the current fee-for-service system in which Medicaid in North Carolina reimburses doctors and hospitals for each service performed on a patient. Medicaid critics contend the practice has led to cost overruns and uncertainty. (Robertson, 9/22)