Legal Summer Intern

National Health Law Program’s Summer 2027 Legal Internships 

The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) will host up to four paid legal interns during the Summer of 2027, with the positions divided among NHeLP's three strategy areas. Summer internships are fully remote and involve a 37.5 hour per week commitment for 10 weeks. 

Our summer internships are made possible thanks to the support of the following programs: 

Emily Spitzer Summer Internship: Established in honor of NHeLP’s former Executive Director Emily Spitzer.

Open Horizon Health Justice Internship: Made possible by the generous support of Open Horizon, a foundation working to uplift leaders and to co-create opportunities advancing racial and social justice.

About the National Health Law Program

Founded in 1969, NHeLP is a national legal and policy advocacy nonprofit that protects and advances the health rights of low-income and underserved individuals and families. We work to enhance equitable access to quality health care and protect the legal rights of those we serve through advocacy, education, and litigation.

NHeLP engages in national, state, and local advocacy efforts, ranging from complex analyses of federal and state laws, policy lawyering and advocacy, litigation, and individual technical support. We work with lawyers and advocates, community-based organizations, federal and state policy makers, health care providers, and impacted individuals and families. 

NHeLP is committed to health equity—ensuring that everyone has access to the resources they need to be healthy—and to cultivating an organizational environment that empowers an exceptional and diverse staff. Please read NHeLP’s Equity Stance to learn more about our organization and priorities.

NHeLP has three strategy areas which regularly collaborate: 

• Federal Advocacy Strategy Area (FASA) — Focused primarily on federal policy lawyering and administrative and legislative advocacy, with potential for litigation support
• Enforcement and Litigation Strategy Area (ELSA) — Focused on litigation and administrative advocacy
• California Advocacy Strategy Area (CASA) — Focused on California state policy, administrative and legislative advocacy, with potential for litigation support

As an intern, you will be primarily based in one strategy area, but will also have ample opportunity to work with attorneys and policy professionals across the organization. You may also indicate a preference for one or more strategy areas, or no preference. 

Intern Qualifications

NHeLP seeks law students who will be between their second and third years of law school during Summer 2027 (i.e., “rising 3Ls”). Students in dual degree programs (e.g., J.D. and M.P.H.) are also considered, but you must have completed at least two years of law school. We give priority to students who have a demonstrated commitment to public interest work, public health, poverty law (e.g. Medicaid, SNAP), and/or civil rights, as well as an interest in working toward the expansion and protection of health care access for low-income and underserved populations (e.g.  the Affordable Care Act (-ACA)). 

Intern Responsibilities

Interns will develop a broad understanding of the health care issues facing low-income and underserved communities and gain exposure to a variety of advocacy methods that may be used to resolve them. Under the mentorship and supervision of NHeLP attorneys and policy analysts, interns may do the following:

• Contribute to legal and/or policy analysis and development of health care policy, particularly with regard to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act;
• Research novel areas of health law and draft legal and policy memoranda and publications;
• Assist in responding to requests for legal and policy analysis from advocates around the country; and
• Gain exposure to high impact litigation and/or policy analysis.

Specific examples of past internship assignments include:

• Assist with drafting comments on federal regulations and state Medicaid demonstration projects;
• Monitoring and analyzing state and federal legislation and administrative policies;
• Participating in state and national coalition strategy meetings;
• Assisting with the production of substantive manuals, guides, and issue briefs for use by legal advocates;
• Assisting with production of blog posts, presentations, and other materials for broader audiences, including policymakers and public health officials; and
• Assisting with research and drafting of litigation materials for use in state and federal court proceedings.

Intern Compensation

Interns will receive a $15,000 stipend for 10 weeks of work. 

How to Apply

• Qualified applicants should submit an application with a cover letter and resume on our careers page. 
• No phone calls please, except for reasonable accommodation requests (see below). 
• Applications must be received by October 14, 2026 at 11:59 pm PDT.

Please note that our internships in Summer 2027 will be fully remote.  Interns are expected to virtually attend their home strategy area meetings, no matter their working time zone (for example, FASA meetings are generally held at the start of the workday on Eastern Time; CASA meetings are generally held during Pacific Time working hours). 

We will not require anyone to come into the office. While you may have the opportunity to attend in-person meetings, hearings, or other gatherings depending on your location, such events will be optional. 

Reasonable Accommodations

If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact us at: [email protected] or at 202-289-7661.