Madeline T. Morcelle, J.D., M.P.H., is a Senior Attorney in the National Health Law Program’s (NHeLP) Washington, D.C. office. In this capacity, Madeline champions reproductive health equity and justice in efforts to expand, implement, and enforce federal Medicaid coverage and nondiscrimination requirements. She centers her practice on issues affecting Black, Latine, and other people of color, people with chronic health conditions, immigrants, and people at the intersections of these identities. In addition to her federal work, Madeline established NHeLP’s advocacy capacity-building initiative to support Southern advocates fighting for sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice in Medicaid. Beyond NHeLP, she serves as a Leadership Coach at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Board Chair of Converge: Partners in Access, the Title X grantee for Mississippi and Tennessee.
For more than a decade, Madeline has advocated, provided legal and policy guidance and analysis, and crafted public policies to expand access to high-quality health care and alleviate health inequities for and with underserved communities. Before NHeLP, she was the Director of Public Benefits Law at the Mississippi Center for Justice. In that role, she led community lawyering and policy advocacy efforts to address racial injustices in Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF eligibility and access. Previously, she held health law and policy positions at the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Center for Public Health Law and Policy at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and 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. Her health law, policy, and advocacy work has been recognized through honors such as 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. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts (inactive), and Mississippi (inactive).
Madeline believes that the people closest to the problems are often closest to the solutions and is passionate about lawyering to help social movements by and for underserved communities build power. She revels in painting dreamscapes, visiting old-growth forests, and curling up with a book and her lucky black cat, Finn.
