Cat Duffy, PhD, is a Policy Analyst in the National Health Law Program’s Washington, DC office. She works on reproductive and sexual health care access and services, with a particular focus on abortion coverage and access.

Before joining NHeLP, Cat was the Associate Director of Policy and Research at The Hub Project, where she managed the research supporting accountability campaigns on issues such as prescription drug prices, health care coverage, and abortion access. Previously, Cat was a State Policy Manager at Planned Parenthood Federation of America for several years, where she worked on several issues including abortion, telehealth, sex education, and gender-affirming health care access. In this role, she primarily focused on abortion policy, supporting the creation of advocacy strategies to protect and expand abortion access across the country.

Cat Duffy completed her PhD at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her research agenda focused on health care policy, including issues related to the Affordable Care Act, contraceptive coverage, and Medicaid. Her dissertation was a content analysis of media coverage of the 2017 efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Cat was a COMPASS Fellow during her time at USC, where she spent a summer working at the Department of Health and Human Services. She also has a MA in Political Communication from Wake Forest University and a BA in International Relations from Michigan State University’s James Madison College.

Outside of the office, Cat loves to read (pretty much anything but there’s a special place in her heart for romance and fantasy) and is an avid fan of Survivor.