Meet New PHLP Staff: Meggie McCarthy-White

Please join us in warmly welcoming Meggie McCarthy-White to the PHLP Team! A recent graduate of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, Meggie joins PHLP's Philadelphia office as an Independence Foundation Public Interest Law Fellow. Her fellowship project will focus on helping people with disabilities access Personal Assistance Services (PAS) through the Community HealthChoices waiver program.  In addition to representing clients in their appeals when PAS hours are denied or reduced, Meggie will also deliver pro se legal clinics in the community.  Through these clinics, she will empower individuals to advocate for themselves through the appeal process in order to access the care they need and deserve. 

In addition to earning her law degree from Villanova earlier this year, Meggie holds B.A. and MPA degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. She joined PHLP as a summer law student intern in 2022, and completed internships with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Office of General Counsel and the EEOC Hearings Unit. She was a certified legal intern in Villanova’s Health Law Clinic and president of the Villanova Health Law Society. At Villanova, Meggie received awards for excellence in legal writing, family law, and pro bono service. She was the first Villanova law student to win first place in the Epstein Becker Green’s national health law writing competition for her paper, “Access to Courts as Access to Care: Children’s Medicaid Under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983.” Before her legal career, Meggie worked in health policy, advocacy, and government.

We asked Meggie what she's most looking forward to as she embarks on her legal career with PHLP:

"I have been passionate about improving access to care in the Medicaid program since I first worked with families in the autism community in Pennsylvania over ten years ago. I have also been a patient myself and I am aware of the complexity of our health care system. It is a privilege to join the PHLP team and help clients navigate our system to get the care they deserve."

PHLP and our client community are lucky to benefit from Meggie's expertise and advocacy! We look forward to seeing the impact Meggie makes on the community through her fellowship project and her work in years to come.