Jane Perkins

Jane Perkins is the Legal Director for NHeLP, working out of the North Carolina office. Jane focuses on Medicaid, particularly the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program and discrimination in the delivery of health care, particularly on ensuring language access in health care settings. She engages in litigation and policy advocacy on these topics, manages NHeLP's litigation docket, and has written manuals, fact sheets and numerous articles on Medicaid, civil rights, and federal court access. She also provides legal assistance and training to consumer advocates and health care consumers. Jane is the co-author of Ensuring Linguistic Access in Health Care Settings: Legal Rights and Responsibilities, a language access resource manual. Jane was a 1997 recipient of the Reginald Heber Smith Award from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association for dedicated service and outstanding achievement as an indigent defense attorney. She was also named by LawDragon Magazine as one of the top 500 lawyers in the US in 2005 and one of the top 3,000 plaintiffs lawyers in 2006. She earned her M.P.H. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1982; her J.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1981; and her B.A. from Davidson College in 1978.

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