North Carolina’s bipartisan Medicaid pilot shows social services can cut health costs

The article, written by former state health secretaries Mandy Cohen and Kody Kinsley, says North Carolina’s health‑care affordability crisis was tackled through a bipartisan pilot.

The Healthy Opportunities Pilots used Medicaid funds to pay for basic needs such as nutritious food, stable housing and transportation to medical appointments, aiming to keep people healthier and reduce expensive emergency‑room visits.

Early results, released after the program’s launch in 2018, indicate lower hospital use and cost savings in the targeted rural communities, and the authors urge other states and the federal government to expand the model nationwide.