Governor Roy Cooper taps a top federal Medicaid official to lead the state Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Mandy Cohen has been COO and chief of staff for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, helping to implement the Affordable Care Act and had oversight of the Health Insurance Marketplace and private insurance market regulation. Cooper is making a push to expand Medicaid in North Carolina since taking office last week. The state's new secretary of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has also been named: Former state House Minority leader Larry Hall, a veteran of the Marine Corps.