RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein is canceling Medicaid reimbursement rate reductions he initiated over two months ago, preserving in the short term access to care for vulnerable patients while a political fight with Republican legislators to enact additional funding gets resolved.

Stein and state Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Dev Sangvai said at a Wednesday news conference that the state agency would restore reimbursement rates for doctors, hospitals and other medical providers of Medicaid services, which otherwise generally had been cut by 3% to 10% starting Oct. 1.

The governor had said the reductions, while unsettling for some Medicaid patients and providers, were needed to deal with a funding shortfall for Medicaid, which serves more than 3 million

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