PhD student Deanna Befus recently presented at the Bass Connections program on N.C. Medicaid Reform: A Bipartisan Path Forward. Leigh Ann Simmons participated as faculty in the project.

The Bass Connections Medicaid Reform Advisory Team combines Duke's expertise in public policy, law, medicine and business to craft a Medicaid reform proposal designed to fit the constraints and demands of North Carolina politics, especially in light of the revised political landscape resulting from the 2016 elections.

Team members investigated the political and legal procedures involved in Medicaid reform as well as potential health coverage models and business opportunities to meet the needs of North Carolina’s Medicaid beneficiaries. The team partnered with representatives from advocacy organizations (such as the N.C. Justice Center, National Health Law Program, Cone Health Foundation and N.C. Community Health Center Association), the Duke Office of Government Relations, health care providers (at Duke, Community Care of North Carolina and elsewhere) and community health institutions (e.g., Lincoln Community Health Center) to ensure that the concerns of a broad range of stakeholders are addressed in the policy proposal. Likewise, team members met with state Republican legislators, including chairs of the relevant committees (and/or their staff), to determine the political constraints imposed by the legislature, which may be largely unchanged after the November 2016 elections.