North Carolina Medicaid Receives National Spotlight Award for Community-Centered Approach to Unwinding and Expansion

Washington, D.C. — The National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) has awarded its 2024 Spotlight Award to North Carolina Medicaid, recognizing their innovative, community-centered approach to both Medicaid unwinding and expansion implementation. The program’s success was built on core values of proactive communication, stewardship, and belonging.

“We worked with a network of community partners to help newly eligible North Carolinians get covered by Medicaid and connected to care,” said NC Medicaid Director Jay Ludlam. “We are excited to see the impact of our collective outreach efforts that lead to the enrollment of more than 540,000 people in Medicaid expansion in just eight months.” 

“North Carolina’s approach demonstrates how centering community voices can transform program implementation, their innovative partnership model breaks new ground,” said NAMD Executive Director Kate McEvoy. “My hat’s off to this extraordinary team, successfully navigating not one but two formidable challenges simultaneously speaks volumes about the North Carolina agency staff’s capabilities and commitment.”

North Carolina Medicaid developed two groundbreaking initiatives to ensure community engagement:

The Community Engagement Toolkit enables local organizations to tailor Medicaid messaging for their specific communities. Partners can customize materials in multiple languages, including Arabic, Spanish, and Swahili, while maintaining crucial information about enrollment processes through the federally facilitated marketplace, ePASS, or county DSS offices.

The Medicaid Ambassador Initiative empowers individual North Carolinians to help their neighbors navigate the Medicaid system. This volunteer program provides comprehensive training and resources, allowing community members to confidently guide others through the application process.

These community-centered approaches contributed to remarkable outcomes:

• Enrolled over 260,000 beneficiaries on day one of expansion
• Achieved total expansion enrollment of 542,152 North Carolinians within eight months of program launch
• Facilitated nearly 50,000 prescription fills in the initial two weeks of expansion implementation
• Maintained low child disenrollment rates throughout the unwinding process

The program’s success relied on extensive partnership development, including:

• Engagement with over 200 stakeholders through the External Implementation Partners workgroup
• Collaboration with associations, advocacy groups, and faith-based organizations
• Support for county Departments of Social Services through increased automation and technical assistance
• Direct beneficiary engagement through a Proactive Communications platform

North Carolina expects approximately 600,000 residents to gain coverage within two years through Medicaid expansion. The state’s commitment to community engagement and proactive communication continues to drive successful implementation of both initiatives.

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About NAMD’s Spotlight Award

The National Association of Medicaid Directors’ annual Spotlight Award recognizes exceptional leadership and innovation in Medicaid administration. The 2024 award specifically highlighted achievements during the unwinding period and their ongoing impact on Medicaid operations. Learn more about the other 2024 winners here.