Secretary Kody Kinsley

Kody Kinsley served as North Carolina’s 18th Secretary of Health and Human Services under Governor Roy Cooper, unanimously confirmed by the North Carolina Senate. Throughout his tenure, he focused on making health care more affordable and accessible for all North Carolinians, including those in underserved, overlooked rural areas. Kinsley played a pivotal role in expanding Medicaid through bipartisan collaboration with the General Assembly, resulting in over 600,000 North Carolinians gaining coverage in the first year—twice the expected pace. He secured one of the largest behavioral health investments in state history—$835 million— and major policy reforms to expand access to mental health and substance use services. He implemented North Carolina’s groundbreaking Health Opportunities Pilots — the nation’s first large-scale experiment proving that paying for non-medical health needs, like food and housing, improves health and lowers costs. In partnership with all of the state’s hospitals, Kinsley provided $4 billion in medical debt relief for 2 million North Carolinians.

His career includes roles at the White House, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he was appointed by President Barack Obama and continued under President Donald Trump as Assistant Secretary for Management. Secretary Kinsley currently serves as a Senior Policy Advisor at Johns Hopkins University, Senior Advisor with the Milken Institute, a fellow of the Aspen Institute, and serves on numerous boards. A native of Wilmington, Kinsley is a first-generation college student and resides in Raleigh with his partner, where they hike frequently with their dog.