Fact Sheet: North Carolina Healthy Opportunities Pilots Focus Group Findings

This fact sheet describes key takeaways from focus groups conducted to assess the initial awareness of and access to the Healthy Opportunities Pilots services in North Carolina. 

To study the early rollout of the Pilots, we conducted two focus groups with eight individuals receiving Pilot social support services from all three of the Network Lead regions. Of these eight participants, seven were Medicaid beneficiaries, and six had already received food services through the Pilots. These focus groups brought people from diverse backgrounds (racially, ethnically, geographically, etc.). These focus groups were conducted in early May, so the experiences shared were limited to food services (notably, only food boxes). However, we asked about their needs related to the other service domains and thoughts on housing, transportation, and stress services available through the Healthy Opportunities Pilots.

This work is part of a larger project studying the Healthy Opportunities Pilots. Our team received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help generate timely implementation and policy recommendations for North Carolina’s Healthy Opportunities Pilots. The Pilots provide up to $650 million in Medicaid funding to deliver and evaluate evidence-based services related to housing, food, transportation, and interpersonal violence for Medicaid enrollees in three state regions. Each Pilot region has a Network Lead organization that is critical in coordinating prepaid health plans, care managers, and human service organizations to deliver and pay for services. Capacity-building for the program began in July 2021. Service delivery started in early 2022 and will continue through October 2024. 

Additional Authors

Michelle Lyn, Chief, Division of Community Health, Department of Community & Family Health