Written by Brieanne Lyda-McDonald

At the NCIOM, we are always seeking opportunities to provide useful health policy analysis and information to the members of the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA). Our Legislative Health Policy Fellows (LHPF) Program provides data and resources to help legislators make effective decisions about the health of the state. Building on that program and adjusting to safety precautions for the pandemic, NCIOM has begun hosting web-based briefings for legislators. The first briefing, held July 20, provided information to legislators on the recommendations made by the NCIOM Task Force on Serious Illness Care, including 10 recommendations directed to the General Assembly. The one-hour briefing included an overview of serious illness/palliative care by Dr. Diane Meier, Director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care. NCIOM President & CEO Adam Zolotor then presented the task force recommendations, highlighting those that call on the NCGA for action. Seven legislators attended, all alumni of the LHPF program.

The Task Force on Serious Illness Care recognized that, with rising rates of many serious and chronic conditions in our state, it is crucially important to develop a system and culture that aims to improve the quality of living for individuals with serious illness, their families, and their communities. The recommendations developed by the Task Force serve as an actionable and achievable state plan to meet this goal. The full task force report is available HERE and an issue brief is available HERE.

NCIOM will be planning more opportunities for briefings like this into the future. Additionally, this fall we will be hosting a series of four health policy briefing sessions for legislative staff. These sessions will cover topics relevant to state health policy and constituent services, such as the future of Medicaid managed care, rural health, mental and behavioral health services, social drivers of health, the current status of the COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina, and much more. These two-hour web-based sessions will be held September 28 and October 5, 12, & 19.