How this headline may connect to industries in North Carolina. Technical scores are below — click any ? for what a metric means.
Nonprofit legal team helps NC Medicaid patients win benefits appeals
North CarolinaGDELTGDELT event0% biasedThu, May 14, 2026, 12:00 AM
0 of 22 sentences classified as biased · Model: roberta-anno-lexical-ft-v1
Nonprofit legal team helps NC Medicaid patients win benefits appeals.Nonprofit legal team helps N.C.Medicaid patients win benefits appeals HENDERSONVILLE, N.C.— A nonprofit law firm is helping people navigate North Carolina’s complex Medicaid and public benefits system."There’s no cure for the disease.There’s not really any therapies other than physical therapy," said Brianny Yaple, a Henderson County mom whose child with muscular dystrophy was denied coverage for physical therapy after the child turned 18."Turned 18, all of a sudden Medicaid decided no more (physical therapy).We're not going to approve it anymore.It's not medically necessary was their first reason that they gave." Yaple says she was given several reasons for the denial."It was several different reasons why they gave instead of sticking with just 'it's not medically necessary,' so it was hard for me to navigate how to appeal those decisions when they were always different," said Yaple.That struggle to navigate the appeal process led Yaple to Pisgah Legal Services.Legal advocates and attorneys like Shoshana Barton provided help."Do research...look at the coverage policy, see what the requirements are for the person that qualify for that service, and that can be really difficult for people," said Barton.WASTE WATCH: HOW ONE NORTH CAROLINA DISASTER RECOVERY PROGRAM WORKED SO SUCCESSFULLY Barton says the system is often hard to navigate and that people with Medicaid often have a hard time affording a lawyer, so they offer NCMedHelp - a free one-on-one support navigating Medicaid."Once she let the insurance know that there was an attorney on the line as well, the story changed to 'Oh, how can we help you...what can we get for you?I’m so sorry that happened,"' said Yaple.After three months of no physical therapy, Yaple says it was heartbreaking as a mother to see her child’s decline.ASHEVILLE CITY COUNCIL UNANIMOUSLY REJECTS 100-UNIT AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT "As a mother it was just devastating...it was devastating.When I found out we got approved, I was elated," said Yaple.Pisgah Legal Services helped Yaple’s child get 23 physical therapy visits approved."These kinds of cases are really gratifying to work on.It really feels good to get a good result for a client like that, and she recently told us that another request was approved and it’s been extended," said Barton.