North Carolina State Budget Released, Includes NCAH Priorities

Sep 21, 2023

Position Title: Health Access Manager

Reports To: Executive Director

Status: Full-time, exempt

Location: North Carolina: hybrid/remote with statewide travel

Hiring Salary Range: $62,000–$68,000

Supervisory responsibilities: None currently

About the North Carolina Alliance for Health

The North Carolina Alliance for Health brings together community voices, bipartisan leaders, businesses, and partners across the state to advance practical policy solutions grounded in local experience and designed for statewide impact. Together, we improve health outcomes while reducing long-term healthcare costs, expanding access to care, strengthening the workforce, and helping communities thrive. 

About the Role

As federal funding cuts and policy shifts threaten public health and Medicaid coverage, the North Carolina Alliance for Health (NCAH) is committed to fighting for North Carolinians’ continued access to affordable care. In alignment with NCAH’s commitment to public health and ensuring health access for all, the Health Access Manager will lead and coordinate Keeping NC Medicaid Strong – a statewide coalition focused on protecting and advancing Medicaid in North Carolina.

This role requires strong skills in coalition management, stakeholder communications, and policy analysis. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker, a skilled communicator, and committed to access to care in North Carolina.

Key Responsibilities

  • Coalition Management & Leadership

    • Manage NCAH’s health access portfolio, with a primary focus on Medicaid policy and related public health issues. 
    • Convene and grow a diverse coalition of organizations, advocates, and community partners.
    • Facilitate Keeping NC Medicaid Strong coalition meetings by setting agendas, supporting discussions, and ensuring follow-through on action items.
    • Work with the Executive Director to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, including advocacy groups and community leaders.
    • Manage project timelines, budgets, deliverables, and grant requirements; identify risks and recommend adjustments to keep work on track. 
    • Engage Medicaid beneficiaries, grassroots organizations, and communities most affected by health access barriers in campaign planning, messaging, and advocacy. 

 

  • Policy & Legislative Work

    • Monitor and analyze federal and state policy developments affecting Medicaid and health access; advise leadership on emerging opportunities and threats.
    • Draft policy briefs, talking points, and testimony targeted to a variety of audiences.
    • Represent the coalition with media and relevant public forums.
    • Work closely with the Executive Director to influence policy outcomes.

  • Advocacy & Campaigns

    • Implement advocacy campaigns, including grassroots mobilization and digital outreach.
    • Prepare coalition members for legislative meetings, press events, and other advocacy opportunities.
    • Track campaign progress and report on outcomes to the coalition and funders.

  • Communications & External Relations

    • Serve as a representative for NCAH’s healthcare access work in meetings with key stakeholders, funders, and the media, providing timely updates, reporting recent developments, and sharing relevant information.
    • Translate complex Medicaid and healthcare policy issues into clear, compelling messages for diverse audiences.
    • Collaborate with the communications team to draft fact sheets, advocacy toolkits, talking points, and digital content.
    • Support coalition members in amplifying unified messaging.

  • Organizational Management

    • Work with the Executive Director to support Medicaid-related grants, including budget tracking, deliverable management, and funder reporting.
    • Ensure projects are executed effectively, on time, and in alignment with NCAH’s strategic goals.
    • Contribute to funding proposals, funder cultivation, grant reports, and sustainability planning for NCAH’s health access portfolio. 
    • Develop annual goals, strategies, work plans, and performance measures for NCAH’s health access portfolio in collaboration with the full team.
    • Establish and track campaign goals, performance indicators, partner engagement, policy progress, and outcomes; use findings to improve strategy and support funder reporting.
  • Team Participation & Collaboration
  • Work closely with NCAH staff, consultants, and coalition partners to align strategies and coordinate communications.

    • Uphold NCAH's mission, vision, and values in your daily work.
    • Foster a collaborative, inclusive team culture that values diverse perspectives and lived experiences.
    • Support colleagues across projects by contributing expertise in policy, advocacy, and coalition management.

 

Qualifications

  • Minimum two to four years of health policy advocacy or NC Medicaid program experience.
  • Strong project-management skills, including the ability to manage multiple deadlines, budgets, and deliverables.
  • Familiarity with the North Carolina General Assembly, state agencies, and state policymaking processes.
  • Demonstrated ability to facilitate diverse groups, navigate differing perspectives, and build consensus.
  • Commitment to racial, geographic, disability, and economic equity.
  • Ability to work independently and adapt to rapidly changing policy conditions.
  • Willingness to travel within North Carolina and occasionally work outside regular business hours.

 

How to Apply: To apply, send your resume and cover letter to admin@ncallianceforhealth.org by September 4, 2026.

North Carolina State Budget Released, Includes NCAH Priorities

After months of negotiations, the NC General Assembly released the conference report for the budget on Wednesday afternoon. The budget appropriates $29,707,123,024 in the first year of the biennium and $30,823,313,998 in the second year of the biennium and includes a number of NCAH’s top priorities!

  • Promote increased and recurring appropriations for robust and evidence-based tobacco prevention and cessation programs and services - $11,250,000 in nonrecurring funds in each year of the biennium from the State’s settlement with JUUL Labs, Inc. for evidence-based electronic cigarette and nicotine dependence prevention and cessation activities targeting students in grades 4 through 12
  • Promote policies that increase access to healthy food in schools and childcare centers, such as school meals for all and farm-to-school policies - $3 million in recurring funds plus an additional $3 million in nonrecurring funds in the first year of the biennium to permanently eliminate the reduced-price lunch copay 
  • Support policies and appropriations for increasing access to care, including closing the health insurance coverage gap and increasing access to mental health services - Provides the NC Department of Health and Human Services authority to request approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the state to expand Medicaid

The House and Senate will vote on the budget on Thursday and Friday.

Additional provisions and appropriations related to NCAH’s priorities include:

Commercial Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation

  • Changes the method of taxing snuff from cost-based to weight-based
  • Adds a base tax for “alternative nicotine products” of 10 cents per container containing up to 20 units and ½ cent per unit for every unit over 20

Access to Healthy Food

  • $500,000 in recurring funds beginning in 23-24 and $6.3 million in recurring funds beginning in 24-25 for a CEP pilot to support schools and districts in participating in CEP. The funding is limited to schools that are not participating in CEP this fiscal year, and the language directs DPI to prioritize schools with ISPs above 55 and that will maximize federal funding
  • Language that prohibits schools from withholding student records or keeping students from participating in graduation due to school meal debt
  • $6,100,000 in nonrecurring funds in each year of the biennium for the food banks
  • $2,000,000 in nonrecurring funds in each year of the biennium for the Conservation Fund for its NC Food Hub Collaborative to support the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of locally sourced food to customers

Active Living

  • $3,500,000 in nonrecurring funds for the Youth Outdoor Engagement Commission for Go Outside grants
  • $12,500,000 in nonrecurring funds in each year of the biennium for the Great Trails Fund
  • $5,000,000 in nonrecurring funds in the first year of the biennium for the Complete the Trails Fund

Cross-Cutting

  • $2,500,000 in nonrecurring funds for Rural Healthcare Initiative, Inc. to create effective models of sustainable healthcare for North Carolina rural communities
  • $4,849,573 in nonrecurring funds in the first year of the biennium and $6,341,179 in nonrecurring funds in the second year of the biennium for the North Carolina Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, Inc. to support member clinics that provide health care for the uninsured and underinsured
  • $600,000 in nonrecurring funds in each year of the biennium for Mt. Calvary Leadership Development Corporation, Inc. to support the development and implementation of the Community Health Workers Outreach Program
  • $14,667,000 in nonrecurring funds in each year of the biennium for federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics
  • $2,957,566,000 in recurring funds in the first year of the biennium and $4,364,504,000 in recurring funds in the second year of the biennium to increase Medicaid managed care hospital reimbursements
  • $120,000,000 in nonrecurring funds in each year of the biennium for Medicaid transformation projects, contracts, and information technology needs.
  • $15,600,000 to fund $50,000 grants to each local health department for the delivery of essential public health services
  • An additional $250,000 in recurring funds to support the grant program that provides feminine hygiene products for students
  • $100,000 in nonrecurring funds in each year of the biennium for North Carolina Housing Coalition, Inc. to fund programs and services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness
  • $158,275 in nonrecurring funds in each year of the biennium for North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, Inc. to fund programs and services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness
  • $35,000,000 in nonrecurring funds in each year of the biennium to assist with the development of multi-family affordable housing units across the state

You can read the committee report here and the bill text here. 

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