Solomon Center Welcomes Former North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary
The Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School hosted a discussion with former North Carolina Secretary of Health and Human Services Kody Kinsley on Mar. 5. Kinsley, a Senior Policy Advisor at the Institute for Policy Solutions at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, previously held senior roles at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the D.C. Department of Human Services, and the White House.
Kinsley spoke about his experience leading a major state health department through a period of rapid change. As secretary, Kinsley oversaw the expansion of Medicaid in North Carolina, resulting in 600,000 people gaining coverage in the first year. His tenure further included administering significant new investments in behavioral health care. Kinsley also managed all COVID-19 response operations for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in the two years before becoming secretary.
Kinsley encouraged students to pursue innovative health reforms despite the changing federal policy landscape. He underscored that broader political shifts can open space for new policy ideas at both the state and national levels. He also stressed the importance of building coalitions around issues with bipartisan appeal, citing aging and longevity policy as a prominent example.
The event concluded with questions from the audience, which included students from Yale Law School and Yale School of Medicine.
About the Solomon Center
The Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School is the first of its kind to focus on the intersection of law and the governance, practice, and business of health care. The center brings together leading experts and practitioners from the public and private sectors to address cutting-edge questions of health law and policy, and to train the next generation of top health lawyers, industry leaders, policymakers, and academics.
