Alex Pearlman

Rebecca Friedman graduated from Harvard Law School in 2019. Prior to becoming a Student Fellow, she participated in the Health Law and Policy Clinic with HLS’ Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation. At the time she completed her Fellowship, Rebecca planned to work at Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy in Charlotte, North Carolina as an Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton LLP. There, Rebecca will provide direct representation to Medicaid beneficiaries experiencing legal challenges as North Carolina transforms its Medicaid system to managed care, and will work to ensure that Medicaid beneficiaries facing legal issues as a result of social determinants of health receive appropriate support. As a Petrie Flom Center Student Fellow, Rebecca studied the potential for Medicaid to cover doula services and analyzed how racial and socioeconomic disparities in prenatal care and childbirth could be mitigated as a result. The current title of Rebecca’s paper is “The Feasibility and Potential Impact of Broader Medicaid Coverage of Doula Services on Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Birth Outcomes.”