Helping a State Navigate Federal Health Reforms

Kelly Rowe, Class of 2013

Passage of the Affordable Care Act has placed heavy burdens on government attorneys responsible for bringing states into compliance with the massive law’s myriad new rules.

But those challenges created an ideal learning opportunity for Kelly Rowe, who is completing a co-op placement with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Delaware Attorney General’s Office.

Kelly’s projects include critical research to help the office prepare for requirements embodied in the federal health reforms, such as new guidelines for handling doctors who abuse patients and determining which drugs the state’s Medicaid dollars will cover.

That’s not an easy call to make, Kelly said, calling the federal Food and Drug Administration’s system for deciding which prescription drugs qualify for reimbursement “complex.”

Numerous courses Kelly completed to satisfy a concentration in health law prepared her well, she said.

“The classes allowed me to understand the policy goals behind the law, and so I know what kinds of questions are important to ask,” Kelly said.

At the same time, her experience with the state agency is strengthening her grasp of material learned in the classroom.

“The co-op experience is really good for aha moments,” Kelly said, adding that some concepts are hard to master in the abstract. “It’s like learning to drive without ever getting in a car.”