One State’s Billion-Dollar Bet on Better Behavioral Healthcare

Quality Matters: A Podcast by NCQA

Join us for an insightful conversation with North Carolina Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kody Kinsley, as he shares how growing up without health insurance influences his drive to improve health care access and affordability in his home state. Discover the transformative impact of the state’s recent Medicaid expansion and substantial investments in behavioral health.

Secretary Kinsley emphasizes North Carolina’s novel, bipartisan approach to improving care. The discussion covers innovative strategies for staffing the 988 crisis hotline and the unusual integration of the health care system and the prison system. Secretary Kinsley ends with reflections on leadership in an era of identity politics and his advice for quality advocates everywhere.

Key Quote:

“We are very excited to have, after 10 years been able to finally expand Medicaid. And not only have we gotten it done, we've gotten it done well. The other thing that's particularly exciting was a near billion-dollar investment in behavioral health. That is just so consequential to overall health and well-being, something that had also been forgotten and neglected for too long,”

-Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Kody Kinsley

Time Stamps:

(01:48) Medicaid Expansion: A New Era

(05:11) Bipartisanship and Community Engagement

(06:37) Challenges and Solutions in Behavioral Health

(11:56) Innovative Approaches to Health Care and Justice

(13:23) Social Determinants of Health: A Holistic Approach

(21:09) Taking Pride in One’s Wholistic Identity and Quality Gains

Links:

Learn more about Secretary Kinsley