How much would Perdue's plan cost?

How much would it cost to insure parents from working poor families?

In her proposal for insuring poorer children, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue has called for extending coverage to their parents as well, arguing it's the best way to make sure their children get care too.

Her rival for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, state Treasurer Richard Moore, has said her plan is too expensive, arguing it would cost $700 million to "fully deliver" on the plan.

The Perdue campaign estimates her plan would only cost $120 million.

Both sides are using data from a 2006 study by Mercer Human Resources Consulting for the N.C. Institute of Medicine's Task Force on the Uninsured. But they're adding the numbers up differently.

After the jump, we do the math.

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To see the raw data, click here, go to page 96 and look at Table 6.3.

Since the report was compiled, the state has taken over the counties' share of Medicaid costs, so both estimates assume that you add the state and county rows together.

Currently, the state covers parents up to 37 percent of federal poverty level.

MOORE'S ESTIMATE:

The Moore campaign is using the numbers for extending coverage to uninsured parents up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

But Moore is using the numbers for full Medicaid benefits at the top of the chart.

That comes to a total of $292.6 million. Because the report estimated that only 50 percent of eligible parents would sign up, Moore doubles that number to $585.2 million for the cost of full coverage.

Also, Mercer Consulting estimated a 7 percent annual inflation rate. (Click here, go to page 24 and see Table A.5.) Adding those costs in for 2007 and 2008 brings the total cost to around $670 million, and for 2009 and 2010, when the governor's first budget is written, his total comes to $767 million.

PERDUE'S ESTIMATE:

The Perdue campaign says it is not proposing extending full Medicaid coverage to uninsured parents, just the more limited benefit plan with a $10,000 patient maximum. (See the bottom half of Table 6.3.)

That adds up to $100 million.

Perdue's campaign is not including in their calculations Mercer's estimate that not all eligible parents would enroll. (For the limited benefit package, Mercer estimated on page 95 that only 30 percent would sign up.)

They are not also using the Mercer report's 7 percent annual inflation figure, which would add another $15 million in 2007 and 2008. Instead, they simply added $20 million in estimated inflation costs for those two years.

That brings her total to $120 million.