Madeline T. Morcelle, J.D., M.P.H., is a Senior Attorney at the National Health Law Program (NHeLP). She leads NHeLP’s work to bridge federal health care reform and sexual and reproductive health advocacy; fortify nondiscrimination rights in sexual, reproductive, and related health care; and advance equitable sexual and reproductive health care access for people with disabilities. As a movement lawyer, she counsels reproductive justice organizations on federal legislative and administrative matters concerning Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and civil rights, with a particular focus on immigrant health care access. A dedicated coalition-builder, Madeline co-chairs the National Coalition for Gender Justice in Health Policy, organizes the Medicaid and Reproductive Justice Collaborative, and chairs the rewrite working group for Title V of the Health Equity and Accountability Act.
Before joining NHeLP in 2020, Madeline was the Director of Public Benefits Law at the Mississippi Center for Justice, where she led efforts that expanded program eligibility and access for tens of thousands of Mississippians. Earlier in her career, she held health law and policy positions at the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Center for Public Health Law and Policy at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and the Network for Public Health Law.
Madeline holds a M.P.H. in Health Policy from Harvard University, J.D. from Washington and Lee University, and B.A. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has received numerous accolades for her work, including recognition as a Public Health Champion by Harvard, the Boston Congress of Public Health’s 40 Under 40 Public Health Catalyst Award, CMS’ Special Achievement Award and Execution of Major Projects Award, and Harvard’s James H. Ware Award for Achievement in the Practice of Public Health.
Beyond her work at NHeLP, Madeline has served as a Leadership Coach at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health since 2021 and is Board Chair of Converge: Partners in Access, the Title X grantee for Mississippi and Tennessee. She revels in creative writing, painting dreamscapes, visiting old-growth forests, and curling up with a good book and her lucky black cat, Finn.
