Equitable Access to Care
Closing the Health Care Coverage Gap
We're supporting systems-based solutions and empowering communities to close the health care coverage gap.
Why access to care?
Equitable access to care leads to healthier communities.
Seventy years ago, Mrs. Reynolds charged the Trust to ensure that North Carolinians with low incomes have access to health care. Affordable access to health insurance is a vital piece of this work.
We support systems-based solutions.
We invest in the power of communities to strengthen programs that support community health and target health coverage enrollment outreach to underserved, under-enrolled rural and immigrant communities and communities of color. We work to increase public benefits eligibility and ensure all residents can access quality health care coverage now that North Carolina has expanded Medicaid.
Our Goals
Maintain or increase enrollment of individuals with low incomes in the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and other critical public benefits.
What we know: Nearly one million North Carolinians between the ages of 19 and 64 are uninsured, making it hard for them to get the care they need to stay healthy. Uninsured adults and children obtain fewer preventive services, have more avoidable hospitalizations, have worse health outcomes and, in some cases, are more likely to die from serious acute conditions than their insured peers.
What we do: We support Affordable Care Act enrollment assistance efforts, especially for underserved North Carolinians who frequently lack access and support. We do this by building nonprofit capacity, investing in data collection and dissemination to better understand Affordable Care Act enrollment, and fostering innovative enrollment initiatives.
Protect and expand Medicaid eligibility.
What we know: In March 2023, North Carolina became the 40th state to expand Medicaid. More than 600,000 residents now have access to affordable health care.
What we do: The Trust and other funders, advocates, nonprofits, and residents have worked to close the coverage gap and expand Medicaid since 2012. Moving forward, we are focusing efforts around the enrollment of communities that have been most marginalized from receiving Medicaid coverage.
Updates and Reports
Expanding Medicaid in North Carolina
Expanding Medicaid is projected to create more than 37,000 new jobs and insure approximately 365,000 more people, according to a new non-partisan analysis. The report was prepared by researchers at The George Washington University with funding from Cone Health Foundation and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust.
Our Grantmaking Strategies
We leverage a variety of strategies to advance our goals, across all programs, initiatives, and bodies of work.
Activating Change With Our Values
We start by listening. Believe in communities. Engage unlikely partners. Employ a place-based approach. Believe equity is essential to everything we do. Focus on outcomes. Support scale and sustainability.
Funding Opportunities
Find out what we’re funding now.