2026 Illinois State of Reform Health Policy Conference

Illinois hospitals are navigating a rapidly evolving landscape shaped by financial pressures, workforce shortages, rising behavioral health needs, and growing demands for access and affordability. Join a panel of Illinois hospital leaders as they discuss the most pressing challenges facing health systems across the state, including the operational and financial implications of House Bill 1 and other emerging policy changes. Panelists will share how their organizations are adapting to regulatory shifts, strengthening care delivery, and planning for the future while continuing to meet the needs of patients and communities throughout Illinois. 

Illinois is emerging as a bellwether for how states are approaching AI governance, privacy, and accountability in digital health. This panel will examine the state’s evolving regulatory landscape—from new laws restricting the use of AI in clinical decision-making and requiring licensed oversight in behavioral health, to broader transparency, auditing, and risk disclosure proposals shaping how organizations deploy advanced technologies.  Panelists will explore how providers, payers, and innovators can responsibly integrate agentic AI and digital tools while maintaining patient trust, safeguarding data privacy, and complying with both state-specific requirements and federal standards like HIPAA. 

Illinois’ Rural Health Transformation Program represents a significant opportunity to reimagine care delivery across rural communities. This panel will explore how state leaders, providers, and community partners are translating this funding into actionable strategies to better integrate behavioral health and primary care—an approach proven to improve access, coordination, and patient outcomes, particularly in areas with limited specialty resources. The conversation will highlight emerging best practices and local innovations, offering a roadmap for building sustainable, integrated systems of care that address both physical and behavioral health needs and advance health equity across rural Illinois. 

This panel will explore the evolving landscape of financing community-based services across Illinois’ health sector, with a focus on how state and local stakeholders are aligning funding streams to better support care outside traditional clinical settings. As demand grows for behavioral health services, home- and community-based care, and social supports, payers, providers, and policymakers are navigating complex reimbursement models, federal waivers, and cross-sector partnerships to sustain these services. Panelists will discuss innovative financing strategies, including value-based payment approaches and braided funding, as well as the persistent barriers—such as workforce constraints and administrative complexity—that must be addressed to ensure equitable access and long-term sustainability for community-centered care. 

In Illinois, the 1115 Waiver aims to support people returning from jail to the community by connecting them with essential health and supportive services. This effort builds on ongoing work to engage individuals in behavioral health care, substance use disorder treatment, primary care, and social supports such as housing and food assistance. This panel will explore state, county, and local efforts to strengthen connections to services, sustain community-based supports, and reduce involvement in the criminal legal system by ensuring people are served more effectively in the community rather than in carceral settings. 

As Illinois prepares to implement its new 2026 Medicaid managed care contracts, health plan leaders are navigating a significantly evolving landscape shaped by heightened expectations around quality, access, and whole-person care. This panel will bring together senior plan executives to discuss what these new contracts will require in practice—from performance accountability and payment innovation to care integration and addressing social determinants of health. Panelists will also share how their organizations are preparing operationally and strategically for the transition, and what providers, community partners, and policymakers should expect as these changes take effect across the state. 

As Illinois works to maintain Medicaid and SNAP coverage amid ongoing policy changes and administrative challenges, stakeholders across the state are advancing practical, on-the-ground strategies to keep eligible individuals connected to critical benefits. This panel will highlight real-world initiatives that are proving effective—from outreach and enrollment support to system alignment and data sharing—while examining persistent barriers such as coverage churn and administrative complexity. Panelists will also explore how health plans, providers, community-based organizations, and state agencies can strengthen collaboration to ensure continuity of coverage and better support the communities who rely on these programs. 

Illinois has articulated a statewide vision for transforming behavioral health services through the release of its new Strategic Plan. The next challenge is turning that vision into measurable action. In this fireside chat, Chief Behavioral Health Officer Dr. Inger Burnett-Zeigler will discuss the priorities behind the state’s Strategic Plan, what successful implementation will look like, and how Illinois can translate policy goals into meaningful improvements for people, providers, and communities. Alexa will lead a candid, solutions-oriented conversation focused on implementation, accountability, workforce, system capacity, and the partnerships needed to move from planning to results. 

As Illinois prepares for a rapidly aging population—with older adults projected to make up a significant share of residents in the coming years—state leaders and stakeholders are advancing new policy strategies to support aging with dignity, independence, and equity.  This panel will explore how Illinois is balancing long-term services and supports, Medicaid modernization, and investments in home- and community-based care with broader efforts to strengthen caregiver supports and build age-friendly communities. Panelists will discuss the state’s emerging multi-sector approach to aging policy, key implementation challenges, and opportunities to improve access, affordability, and outcomes for older adults across Illinois.

Illinois is facing growing demand for healthcare services while navigating workforce shortages across both clinical and community-based settings. This panel will explore how the state is strengthening its workforce pipeline, with a focus on emerging roles like community health workers (CHWs) and the behavioral health workforce. Panelists will discuss how CHWs are improving care coordination, expanding access, and addressing social drivers of health, particularly in underserved communities, while also examining strategies to recruit, train, and retain behavioral health professionals. Together, these efforts highlight opportunities to build a more resilient, culturally responsive workforce that can meet the evolving needs of patients across Illinois. 

Illinois has spent years working to transform how people with serious mental illness and complex behavioral health needs are served. Building on the lessons of the Williams Consent Decree and subsequent system reforms, this panel will examine a critical question: Where are we now, and what will it take to continue moving people from institutional settings into stable, supported lives in the community? The discussion will look beyond compliance and ask what sustainable community-based care should look like in practice. Panelists will explore progress to date, remaining gaps, barriers to community placement and support, and the investments and partnerships needed to expand capacity.   

As healthcare costs rise and delivery systems grow more complex, addressing fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) has become a central priority for policymakers and program administrators in Illinois. This panel will explore how the state is preparing for and responding to FWA across its healthcare programs, including efforts to strengthen program integrity, enhance oversight of Medicaid managed care, and leverage data and technology to identify risks earlier. Panelists will discuss the balance between enforcement and prevention, the evolving role of providers and health plans, and how cross-sector collaboration can improve compliance while maintaining access to care. Together, these strategies are shaping a more accountable, transparent healthcare system in Illinois. 

Illinois is beginning implementation of medical respite as one of its first health-related social needs (HRSN) benefits, creating new opportunities to better support individuals experiencing homelessness and complex medical needs. This panel will explore early lessons from implementation, including how providers, hospitals, and community-based organizations are operationalizing the benefit and coordinating care across systems. Panelists will also examine what is still needed to scale and sustain medical respite statewide—from financing and data sharing to workforce capacity and cross-sector partnerships—ensuring this new benefit delivers on its promise to improve outcomes and strengthen the broader safety net. 

As Illinois’ healthcare safety net faces growing pressure, providers, community-based organizations, and public programs are navigating rising demand, workforce constraints, and evolving policy expectations. This panel will explore how federally qualified health centers, hospitals, and community partners are sustaining access to care today while laying the groundwork for a more resilient, integrated safety net. Panelists will discuss strategies to strengthen infrastructure, improve coordination across systems, and identify policy and financing opportunities to better support vulnerable populations now and into the future.