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Care4Carolina Medicaid Expansion Campaign Finalist for PR Daily Awards

The Care4Carolina coalition’s successful push to defy political odds and expand Medicaid in North Carolina has been named a finalist for Public Affairs Campaign of the Year at Ragan Communication’s prestigious PR Daily Awards.

The work with Care4Carolina (C4C) was started in 2018 by GBW Strategies; RLF Communications, one of North Carolina’s leading public relations firms, acquired GBW in January 2024 and completed the work on the multipronged campaign, which included messaging, storytelling, events and media relations.

Pundits long saw Medicaid expansion in North Carolina as impossible because of deeply entrenched political opposition. C4C undertook a methodical education and advocacy campaign enlisting statistics and data, the perspective of subject matter experts including CEOs, and the lived experience of people across the state struggling in the health insurance coverage gap.

The coalition included nonprofits like the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and AARP, numerous professional associations, and corporations such as Cone Health, Sentara Healthcare, Novant Health and UnitedHealthcare.

On March 27, 2023, North Carolina became the 40th state to expand Medicaid expansion when Gov. Roy Cooper signed the policy into law in a bipartisan ceremony. Expansion went live in December 2023 and now, backed by a strong awareness campaign, counts more than half a million sign-ups. With its work complete, C4C dissolved in May of 2024.

“The story about Medicaid expansion in North Carolina starts with the work Care4Carolina has done, changing one heart at a time…You gave the uninsured a voice that was beautiful,” said Kody Kinsley, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in a farewell message to C4C.

“Working overtime with the brilliant and tenacious members of the Care4Carolina coalition was gratifying beyond compare,” said Billy Warden, who ran point on C4C for GBW and now serves as RLF’s Chief Strategy Officer. “The campaign was epic in scope and incredibly moving in the personal details we made part of our storytelling effort.”

The PR Daily Awards program is regarded as one of the communications industry’s most esteemed recognition platforms. Winners will be announced Dec. 11, 2024, in New York City.