Rebecca Whitaker PhD, MSPH

Research Team

Rebecca Whitaker, PhD, MSPH

Contact

Focus Areas

State Health Care Transformation and Medicaid Transformation, Value-Based Payment for Care Delivery , Health Equity, Federal Health Care Transformation

Degrees

Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health

Master of Science in Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health

Bachelor of Arts, Princeton University

Rebecca Whitaker, PhD, MSPH, is a Research Director with Duke-Margolis focused on state and regional health care transformation with a particular emphasis on North Carolina’s health reform activities. In this role, Rebecca helps lead the Institute’s research and policy analysis related to care delivery and payment reform. Rebecca brings extensive experience in health services research, policy analysis, and program and policy implementation focused on Medicaid, social drivers of health, safety-net delivery systems, and underserved populations.

Prior to joining Duke-Margolis, Dr. Whitaker served as Director of Health Policy & Governmental Affairs at the North Carolina Community Health Center Association, where she led the Association’s state and federal policy agenda and guided North Carolina health centers through large-scale payment and care delivery reforms, including Affordable Care Act implementation. During this time, she was also a Jim Bernstein Community Health Leadership Fellow through North Carolina’s Foundation for Health Leadership and Innovation.

Journal Article

North Carolina’s Bipartisan Path To Medicaid Expansion: The Role Of Accountable Care

Brianna Van Stekelenburg, Rebecca G. Whitaker, Robert S. Saunders, Mark B. McClellan

Health Affairs, 2023

Journal Article

How To Improve Race, Ethnicity, And Language Data And Disparities Interventions

Neil P. Rowen, Brianna Van Stekelenburg, Raman Nohria, Robert S. Saunders, Rebecca G. Whitaker

Health Affairs, 2022

Project Report

Community Action and Analysis Plan: Guidance and Resources for Community Care Hubs to Address Health-Related Social Needs Based on Lessons from North Carolina

Katie Huber, Brianna Van Stekelenburg, Veronica Marshall-Kirk, Yolande Pokam Tchuisseu, Rebecca Whitaker, Andrea Thoumi, Rob Saunders, Will Bleser

2024

Project Report

Addressing Social Needs through Medicaid: Lessons from Planning and Early Implementation of North Carolina’s Healthy Opportunities Pilots

Katie Huber, William Bleser, Rebecca Whitaker, Karina Vasudeva, Jessye Halvorson, Amanda Van Vleet, Michelle Lyn, Robert Saunders

Milbank Memorial Fund, 2023

Journal Article

Addressing Housing-Related Social Needs Through Medicaid: Lessons From North Carolina’s Healthy Opportunities Pilots Program

Katie Huber, Vibhav Nandagiri, Rebecca Whitaker, Yolande Pokam Tchuisseu, Brianna Van Stekelenburg, Andrea Thoumi, Robert Saunders, Will Bleser

Health Affairs, 2024

Fact Sheet: Churn Patterns Among Youth Medicaid Beneficiaries in North Carolina: 2016-2018

2021

Fact Sheet: Churn Patterns Among Adult Medicaid Beneficiaries from North Carolina: 2016-2018

2021

Fact Sheet: How Covid-19 Unemployment and Social Vulnerability Affected Medicaid Enrollment Across North Carolina

Paul R. Shafer, PhD1*, David M. Anderson, MSPPM2, Rebecca Whitaker, PhD2, Charlene Wong, MD, MPH2,3, Brad Wright, PhD4, Laura Benzing BS expected 2021
1 Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management, School of Public Health, Boston University
2 Margolis Center for Health Policy, Duke University
3 Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Duke University
4 Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

2021