The Health Management Associates (HMA) Conference, US Healthcare 2026: Signals, Signs & Flashing Lights, will open October 6, 2026, with a discussion between two distinguished state officials—Bruce D. Greenstein, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, and Stephen Cha, MD, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services. Their conversation will frame the major policy, financial, and operational issues confronting the states and set the tone for deeper discussions throughout the conference about solutions being designed and implemented across the healthcare sector.
Navigating a New Federal Landscape
Mr. Greenstein, chief technology officer at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during the first Trump administration, and Dr. Cha, who has served in a range of roles at HHS and its agencies, bring both state and national perspectives to the discussion. Drawing on their experiences, they will discuss the challenges confronting public healthcare programs and the consequential choices before them.
Those choices are becoming increasingly significant as federal policy changes reshape public healthcare coverage and financing. State leaders must protect access, sustain systems of care, and accept greater accountability for spending. Mr. Greenstein and Dr. Cha will explore the difficult tradeoffs behind their decisions, the potential consequences for health plans, providers, community organizations, and the people they serve. They will also address how leaders can manage fiscal and operational pressures without losing sight of quality and outcomes.
In addition, the conversation will answer key questions about the future of state health and human services programs, including:
- How can artificial intelligence, data, and other technologies help states reduce administrative burden, improve oversight, and make programs more responsive?
- Where can states work more effectively with health plans, providers, technology companies, and other industry partners, and where is closer coordination with sister agencies essential to advancing shared goals?
Mr. Greenstein and Dr. Cha will offer examples of how their states and their peers in other states have responded to these issues.
Representing states with different political and policy environments, they also will explore where leaders across party lines are reaching similar conclusions—even when their strategies differ—and which practical challenges receive scant attention. Their exchange will consider how states should define success amid changing federal expectations, which outcomes matter most, and what early evidence can show whether a policy is working or health outcomes are beginning to deteriorate.
Michael O. Leavitt, former Utah Governor and US Secretary of HHS, and co-founder of Leavitt Partners, an HMA Company, will moderate the discussion, adding his state and federal expertise and knowledge to a timely conversation about governance, accountability, and value.
The opening plenary session will take place Tuesday, October 6, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. in New Orleans, LA.
Register today to join the conversation.