The first-of-its-kind Children and Families Specialty Plan will go live on December 1, 2025. This is a single, statewide NC Medicaid Managed Care plan that will wrap Medicaid-enrolled children, youth and their families in the child welfare system with seamless, integrated and coordinated health care.
NCDHHS and Blue Cross NC’s highest priority is to deliver a plan that meets the needs of the children and families of North Carolina. We are committed to building the systems and processes needed to ensure the Plan works for families and the counties that serve them. Since the contract was awarded in August 2024, we have been working together to and carefully planning to ensure the launch of the new plan goes smoothly and is ready to serve beneficiaries on day one.
Over the next year, we will be working quickly and collaboratively to ensure that we are ready to support children and families by providing coordinated and comprehensive health care, including mental health care, that follows the person and works across multiple systems.
We will also support providers in preparing to best serve this population under the new plan including extensive training and working with providers to address unmet health-related resource needs, including housing, food, transportation, and interpersonal violence. And, of course, we will collaborate with county leaders, DSS staff, community partners and stakeholders while preparing to support children and families in this new way of accessing care.
What is the Children and Families Specialty Plan?
- The Children and Families Specialty Plan is a new single, statewide Medicaid Managed Care plan that will wrap Medicaid-enrolled children, youth, and their families currently and formerly served by the child welfare system with seamless, integrated and coordinated health care.
- The Plan will operate statewide, ensuring members can access the health care services they need, including mental health care, and continue to work with their doctors as placements may move them across the state.
- The Plan is part of North Carolina’s commitment to improving the long-term health and well-being of children experiencing the child welfare system and to strengthen and support families.
- To implement the Plan, NCDHHS will work with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC), who will manage it under the name Healthy Blue Care Together.
- One, single statewide plan: The Plan will operate statewide as the single entity accountable for the health care of its members, simplifying processes and providing caregivers, providers, case workers and families with the information to provide the right care at the right time.
- Informed by local needs: The Plan will collaborate with County DSS, local stakeholders and families to understand and respond to needs in each community. Care managers will be located within the community to support this work.
- Prevention focused: The Plan will take a family-focused approach to care delivery to strengthen and preserve families, reduce entry and re-entry into foster care, and support reunification and other permanency plan options.
- Comprehensive care: The Plan will increase timely access to a broad range of physical health, behavioral health, pharmacy, long-term services and supports (LTSS) and I/DD services, as well as unmet health-related resource needs for all members.
- Coordinated care: The Plan will provide care management to all members to support integrated, whole-person care and facilitate coordination among service providers. It will also facilitate seamless transitions for members who experience changes in treatment settings, child welfare placements, transitions to adulthood and/or loss of Medicaid eligibility.
- We will continue to share regular updates and also hold meetings with key stakeholders and organizations.
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