Courtney Cappalli

Courtney Cappalli’s work focuses on payment reform, addressing drivers of health, and climate change mitigation through use of learning systems, technical assistance, mixed-methods research, and project operations. These efforts support program monitoring, population health, and state policy.

Since joining Mathematica in 2019, Cappalli has worked on a range of projects covering social determinants of health, value-based care, and climate change. She is project manager for a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contract that supports the ACO REACH (Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health) model, the Kidney Care Choices model, and accountable care organizations. The project develops learning events, provides implementation technical assistance, and creates written products that help achieve CMS’s goal to reduce costs while improving quality and beneficiary experience. Cappalli is also an analyst on a climate change and health project which seeks to inspire, inform, catalyze, and equip state Medicaid agencies to lead on health care sector decarbonization. Most recently, Cappalli authored a brief that presents a series of policy options that will help state Medicaid agencies become leaders in reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions in health care. In addition, she is experienced in conducting literature reviews and focus groups.

For a past contract, Cappalli co-wrote a report which focused on climate adaptation and mitigation strategies that informed policy approaches for preventing adverse effects of climate change on the health of a state Medicaid agency’s clients. Along with her previous climate change work, Cappalli was the project manager on the Accountable Health Communities Model. The model tested whether screening for social needs in clinical settings, referring high-risk Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to community services, and helping them navigate those services to address their health-related social needs decreases the use and cost of health care services.

Cappalli turned a childhood fascination with the outdoors into a passion for environmental policy. This inspired her to pursue policy research in climate change and health care so that she could study the connections between public health, harmful emissions, and equity. Cappalli holds a B.A. in environmental science from the University of Iowa.