North Carolina Senate hopeful Roy Cooper profited from Medicaid contracts and health-care donations

Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, is alleged to have leveraged his governorship to secure financial gains from the health-care industry. After North Carolina moved its Medicaid program to a managed-care model in 2015, his administration awarded contracts in 2019 to UnitedHealthcare and Centene, both of which later contributed sizable sums to political groups tied to Cooper. The 2023 Medicaid expansion, which added over 600,000 residents to coverage, amplified the revenue flowing through those contracts and coincided with growth in Cooper’s stock holdings in related investment funds.

Financial disclosures indicate he owns nearly $500,000 in health-care equities, while donations from insurers to his campaigns and allied nonprofits have risen from $160,000 to almost $400,000. Critics also note that the state continues to rank among the highest in health-care costs and has seen rural hospital closures under his watch.