KFF Media Fellowships 2019 North Carolina Site Visits

In October 2019, KFF invited a group of journalists with a strong focus on health policy and state health reform to participate in a week-long fellowship focused on North Carolina’s health care landscape and the national implications of the state-level policy work there. Rural health, Medicaid reform and expansion, the uninsured, opioids, community care solutions, care coordination, homelessness, and value-based health plan design were themes throughout the week, as well as social and economic disparities.

The site visits in Raleigh, Durham, and Rocky Mount gave the journalists the opportunity to hear from a variety of experts and stakeholders, including: Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services; N.C. Rep. Donny Lambeth (R-Winston-Salem); Opportunities Industrialization Center President and CEO Reuben Blackwell; Kathy Johnson, executive director at Oak City Cares; Gerald Petkau, Interim CEO, and senior management, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina; and Dr. Thomas Owens, president, Duke University Hospital, Duke University Health System, to name a few. A major theme throughout the week was community-level engagement and innovation. Meetings at the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services, Duke University Health System, North Carolina Rural Center, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina, Oak City Cares, and Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) in Rocky Mount provided reporters with context for covering health in North Carolina and nationwide.

Final Agenda: State health policy issues in North Carolina, Raleigh site visit, Monday, October 28-Thursday, October 31, 2019 [PDF]

Participating journalists:

• Lynn Bonner, reporter, The News & Observer, Raleigh
• Selena Simmons-Duffin, health reporter, NPR, Washington, D.C.
  
• Dan Goldberg, health care reporter, Politico, New York City
  • “North Carolina’s Medicaid reforms on ice,” POLITICO Pro
• Seth Thomas Gulledge, healthcare/higher education reporter, Triangle Business Journal
  • “Blue Cross NC on Conway aftermath: Innovation is not about a single individual”
  • “How where you live in the Triangle could impact your life expectancy — by up to 12 years”
• Rose Hoban, editor, North Carolina Health News
• Deborah Holt-Noel, producer/host, “Black Issues Forum,” UNC-TV
• Liora Engel-Smith, rural health reporter, North Carolina Health News
  • “In Medicaid transformation rollout, ‘more questions than answers’“
• Joanne Kenen, executive editor, health care, Politico, Washington, D.C.
  • “UNIVERSAL FLU VACCINE? NOT SO FAST,” Prescription PULSE
• Victoria Knight, reporter, KFF Health News, Washington, D.C.
• Kimberly Leonard, senior health policy reporter, Washington Examiner
  • “Is North Carolina next to expand Medicaid?” Daily On Healthcare
• Noam Levey, health policy reporter, Washington bureau, The Los Angeles Times
• Jayne O’Donnell, healthcare policy reporter, USA Today, Washington, D.C.
  • “Tackling poverty in a coronavirus-induced economic downturn: Is it too risky or the right thing to do?” USA Today
• Sarah Ovaska-Few, reporter, North Carolina Health News
  • “No state budget, no Medicaid transformation?”
• Hannah Smoot, business/health reporter, The Charlotte Observer
• Claire Thornton, health reporter, USA Today, Washington, D.C.