Stephen Cha

Dr. Stephen Cha is a senior leader in both the public and private sector, with deep experience with issues of public health as well as health care finance. Most recently, Dr. Cha served as Counselor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), with a portfolio that at times included: the Food and Drug Administration; the Indian Health Service; the National Institutes of Health; the Agency for Healthcare Research and Policy; the Health Resources and Services Administration, as well as cross cutting issues such as cannabis and maternal health. Dr. Cha also coordinated the HHS response to major crises such as COVID-19, and led Operation Fly Formula in response to the infant formula shortage.

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Prior to HHS, he spent over a decade leading Medicaid and state level health care innovation in both the public and private sector.  He served as the Chief Medical Officer for United Healthcare Community & State, responsible for the care of about 6 million Medicaid and CHIP members in 29 states and the District of Columbia.

 
Before that time, Dr. Cha was in federal government for about 12 years. He served at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for 6 years, as the first Chief Medical Officer for the Center on Medicaid and CHIP Services, and then leading state innovations at the Center on Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.  He also served for about 6 years in the U.S. House of Representatives under Chairman Henry A. Waxman, as senior professional staff for the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Cha served as a part-time primary care physician in a homeless shelter in Washington, DC for over a decade.

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