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- ANNUAL CONFERENCE
- Agenda
Please note: The state-only preconference is for current state government employees directly employed by the state.
All preconference sessions include lunch.
8:00 – 9:00 AM
Networking Breakfast
9:15 AM – 3:30 PM
Start Spreading the News: Health Care Affordability for Consumers and Across Payers
Health care affordability is top of mind but increasingly out of reach for consumers as well as payers, such as state Medicaid programs, state employee health plans, employers, and State-based Marketplaces. State officials seek to understand cost drivers and identify strategies that result in high-quality care, when and where people need it. Join this day-long track to explore challenges, learn about current state approaches, and hear new and emerging ideas. Breakout discussions will include deeper dives into Medicaid and commercial market approaches to achieve sustainable, high-value, and lower-cost coverage and care.
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Building the Future of Public and Population Health
Shifts in public health policy, Medicaid policy, and infrastructure investments on the federal, state, and local levels require innovative partnerships and new policy approaches to achieve health goals. In this session, experts will review the current landscape and forecast future directions in public and population health, including prevention, whole person health, and upstream interventions. Facilitated discussions will focus on vaccines, public health infrastructure, chronic disease prevention, maternal and child health, and school-based interventions — as well as the future of Medicaid Section 1115 demonstrations.
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From the Hudson to the Yukon: Powering Rural Health
New investments through the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) provide opportunities to address longstanding challenges to rural health care across the country. This session will highlight key RHTP initiatives across states and how they align with broader rural health strategies, with an eye toward sustainability. Overviews will include federal perspectives and early lessons from states. Breakout discussions will focus on priority populations and key RHTP initiatives, including maternity care deserts, aging, workforce, building capacity for whole person care, technology innovations, and alternative payment models.
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7:30 – 8:30 AM
Networking Breakfast
8:30 – 9:45 AM
Morning Plenary
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9:45 – 10:15 AM
Break
10:15 – 11:30 AM
Leaving the Concrete Jungle: Transforming Provider Payment and Care Delivery in Rural Communities
To support access to care in rural areas, state officials are seeking multi-payer approaches to reform delivery and payment, with a focus on improved health outcomes. This session will highlight how states, with payer and provider partners, are seeking to re-design payment to incentivize high-value care in rural areas. Speakers representing public and commercial payers will share how to measure value, support provider transformations, and talk about potential innovative strategies that use payment as a sustainability tool.
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A (Big) Apple a Day: Bolstering Preventive Health
Amidst a quickly evolving policy environment, states are advancing diverse prevention initiatives to improve outcomes across populations and communities. This session will explore various public and population health approaches states are pursuing, including bolstering necessary public health infrastructure to deliver interventions and capture impact. It will also discuss enhancing chronic disease prevention measures and strengthening cross-sector collaboration to target at-risk populations.
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Lights, Camera, Outcomes: Spotlighting What Works for Children’s Health
At a time when states are implementing many policy changes, children’s health needs a spotlight if gains in child health outcomes are to be maintained and fully achieved. Well-child visit rates across the country are decreasing, children’s insurance coverage rates may change, and state budget shortfalls may limit long-term child health investment. This session will explore the current state of children’s health across states, effective state policies and approaches to targeting and maximizing investments in child health, and cross-sector strategies to improve child health outcomes.
Support for this session was provided by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. The views presented here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation or its staff. Learn more at LPFCH.org/CYSHCN.
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No Place Like Home (and Community-Based Services)
In a shifting federal landscape, states are exploring approaches to demonstrating value as they seek sustainability strategies and bolster program integrity. Speakers will discuss data-driven approaches, outcomes, and oversight of home and community-based services for older adults, people with disabilities, and their caregivers.
This session is supported by The John A. Hartford Foundation.
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11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Lunch
12:30 – 1:30 PM
Afternoon Plenary
1:30 – 2:00 PM
Break
2:00 – 3:15 PM
The Latest in State Approaches to PBM Transparency and Oversight
States increasingly seek to infuse more transparency into the pharmacy supply chain to better understand prices, rebates, and the ultimate cost of prescriptions to consumers and payers (Medicaid and commercial). As a result, there continues to be new state strategies for pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) contracting and oversight. What is working well? What else needs adjustment to ensure individuals are accessing necessary prescriptions at the most affordable price? Expert speakers in this session will discuss these questions and more.
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Casting for the Future: Securing a Modern, Comprehensive Health Care Workforce
This session will explore how states are strengthening the health care workforce through data-driven strategies, cross-sector partnerships, and financial investments such as loans and scholarships. State leaders will highlight innovative approaches, including career pipelines, community-based training, financing, reimbursement, extenders, and traditional workforce strategies to address ongoing challenges in recruitment, retention, and provider burnout. Speakers will also discuss opportunities to strengthen the workforce and address barriers to care across urban, rural, and frontier geographies.
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Putting Value-Based Care on Center Stage
Medicaid is the largest single source of health care coverage in the United States. As Medicaid expenditure continues to rise, states are leveraging payment models, including payment bundles, episodes of care, and pay-for-performance incentives, to contain costs and incentivize efficient, high-quality care. States are also increasingly exploring and implementing strategies within managed care contracts to improve health outcomes and strengthen value across populations, including pediatrics, maternity care, and behavioral health. This session will highlight various considerations, approaches, and lessons learned to establish and enhance value-based payment (e.g., alternative payment models or incentive payments tied to certain quality or performance measures) across the health care delivery system.
This session is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Maternal and Child Health Policy Innovations Program as part of a three-year award. The information, content, and conclusions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor are an endorsement by, HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. government.
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Transforming Nursing Home, Palliative, and End-of-Life Care
A significant share of public spending occurs in the last years of life, so states are navigating a pivotal moment in nursing home and end-of-life care, driven by rising resident acuity, persistent workforce shortages, fragmented care transitions, and complex ownership structures. This session will examine state funding and regulatory opportunities to strengthen care transitions, expand access to palliative care, and improve quality of care for nursing home residents, including those with high acuity needs and serious mental illness. It will also consider a reframed vision for community-based palliative and nursing home care.
This session is supported by The John A. Hartford Foundation and West Health.
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3:15 – 3:45 PM
Break
3:45 – 5:00 PM
Wicked Prices: Can States Defy Gravity and Deliver Affordability?
Health care costs have been steadily rising, but double-digit rate increases for commercial insurance and higher per-member costs for Medicaid have been significant. During this session, states leaders will highlight how they identify cost drivers through different types of data collection and analysis as well as insurance rate review. Officials will also share the varied strategies they use to lower cost growth and work toward affordability for state budgets, employers, and consumers.
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Scaling New Heights to Advance Team-Based Primary Care
Access to high-quality primary care is associated with improved life expectancy, reduced chronic disease, reduced hospitalizations, and lower health care costs. The primary care system, however, is challenged with significant limitations in infrastructure, capacity, and financing. In this session, states will share innovative approaches for supporting advanced primary care through increased primary care investment. They will also discuss how to design value-based payment models that support primary care and other policy and programmatic changes to build provider capacity and strengthen team-based care.
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Bright Lights, Blue Screens: The Impact of Social Media on Children’s Mental Health
A significant increase in adolescent use of social media and the presence of interactive artificial intelligence (AI) programs is raising questions about the impact on youth mental health. Researchers and medical experts agree that social media has the potential to both benefit and harm children and adolescents. Adolescents also are increasingly using AI to seek emotional connection or mental health advice. This session will discuss current research on social media and youth mental health, the use of AI in behavioral health service delivery, and state efforts to establish adequate protections for the use of social media and AI among youth and the providers who serve them.
This session is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the National Organizations of State and Local Officials as part of a three-year award. The information, content, and conclusions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.
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Building Bridges: Improving Behavioral Health Across the Lifespan
To meet longstanding needs, states are moving the needle on access to behavioral health care across the lifespan and care settings. Efforts include expanding access in primary care and community-based settings and strengthening hand-offs with acute care and residential/institutional settings to support continuity. Panelists will share approaches demonstrating impact and highlight opportunities to scale, sustain, and adapt to the current policy and financial climate.
This session is supported by West Health.
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5:00 – 6:00 PM
Blueberry Reception
7:30 – 8:30 AM
Networking Breakfast
8:30 – 9:15 AM
Morning Plenary and Awards
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9:15 – 9:30 AM
Break
9:30 – 10:45 AM
Grand Central Innovation: How Can State Medicaid Programs Be Terminals of Change?
State Medicaid agencies are implementing a myriad of policy changes, including provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), while also seeking opportunities for efficiencies, access, and program sustainability. This session will highlight new state strategies and approaches in a number of areas, including eligibility and enrollment, financing, and oversight during a time of change.
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Designing Health Systems Without Community Input? Fuhgeddaboutit
How can states move from designing programs for communities to designing them with communities? This session will explore delivery system, data, infrastructure, and partnership changes driving more effective ways to meet community-specific health needs. Through the lens of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) implementation, as well as ongoing efforts to partner with communities (such as hubs), panelists will provide insights into successful and promising, sustainable models for engaging communities to create solutions that meet their specific needs.
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MET-ernity Matters: Strengthening Maternity Care Access
The U.S. continues to experience a rise in maternity care deserts — places with no hospitals or birth centers offering obstetric care and obstetric providers. As of 2024, 35 percent of both rural and urban U.S. counties are maternity care deserts, affecting over 2 million women of reproductive age and 150,000 infants. This session will explore various approaches and considerations across public and private partners to implement new maternity care delivery systems and enhance existing models to increase access to high-quality maternity care services. Emergent policy priorities, including financing maternity care and federal policy changes impacting maternity care, will also be discussed.
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Sustaining Momentum in Opioid and Substance Use Responses
After years of steady increases, drug-related overdose deaths fell a remarkable 27 percent between 2023 and 2024. What happened? What can state leaders learn from this remarkable success? This session will explore how state-led opioid response may have contributed to reduced opioid overdose mortality, how states can continue to sustain momentum in the current landscape, and implications for other substance use disorder interventions.
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10:45 – 11:00 AM
Break
11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
Closing Plenary
Event titles and times are subject to change.