Emmitt Smith
Pro Football Hall of Fame Running Back, Businessman and Entrepreneur
Speakers
115+ Speakers — The Leaders Running Payer Strategy Today
The lineup at Becker’s 5th Annual Fall Payer Issues Roundtable reflects the people making decisions inside health plans right now. It includes CEOs, COOs, CMOs, and payer leaders responsible for value-based care, affordability, and network strategy. This is one of the few events where more payer executives are in the room than at any other conference. The same leaders you benchmark against are the ones on stage.
About the Conference
Speakers come to be part of the conversations you need to be in
The roster is built around one question: who does this audience need in the conversation? Speakers are selected based on the decisions they own, the systems they run, and the peers they work alongside.
Over 90% of the speaker lineup is health plan leaders and executives.
Featured Speakers
Paul Markovich
President and Chief Executive Officer, Ascendiun
Andreana Santangelo
Chief Financial Officer, Aetna
Ceci Connolly
President and Chief Executive Officer, Alliance of Community Health Plans
Derek Robinson, MD, MBA, FACEP, CHCQM
Divisional Senior Vice President and Chief Health Officer, Health Care Services Corporation
Jessica A. Hohman, MD, MSc
Associate Chief Medical Officer, Value-Based Care, Trend and Network, Cigna Healthcare
Gautam Kapur
Vice President, Head of Consumer Strategy, Humana
Joy Kincaid
Vice President, Product Development and Innovation, Elevance Health
Nebeyou Abebe
Senior Vice President, Social Determinants of Health and Social Health Center of Excellence, Highmark Health
Celebrity Keynotes
Leadership looks the same at the top
Select sessions bring in leaders from outside healthcare who have performed at the highest level under pressure. Their perspective sits alongside a program built around hospital and health system executives.
Speaker Lineup
Explore the full 2026 speaker lineup
Browse and explore all 70+ confirmed speakers across the program.
| Full Name | Job Title | Company |
|---|---|---|
| Nebeyou Abebe | Senior Vice President, Social Determinants of Health and Social Health Center of Excellence | Highmark Health |
| Jay Ahlmer | Executive Vice President | Virtix Health |
| Faris Ahmad | Senior Medical Director and Associate Chief Medical Officer, Physician Success and Network Optimization | Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan |
| Ayo Ajaiyeoba | Chief of Clinical Operations, Quality, and Strategy | Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas |
| Jason Aldous | Program Director, Planning & Business Strategy | Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont |
| Syed M. Ali | Associate Vice President, Strategy Implementation | EmblemHealth |
| Nishant Anand | President and Chief Executive Officer | Altais |
| Elizabeth Avila | Vice President of Sales | WellSky |
| Michael Bagel | Vice President, Policy | Alliance of Community Health Plans |
| Balu | Senior Vice President, Chief Information and Digital Officer | Quartz |
| Jonathan Baran | Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer | Self Fund Health |
| Brad Bauer | Senior VP & General Manager, Healthcare | LexisNexis Risk Solutions |
| Fahd Benjalil | Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer | Sharp Coronado Hospital |
| Mary Benson | Growth Strategy Director | Blue Cross of Idaho |
| Elizabeth Benz | Senior Vice President, Strategy and Government Relations | Network Health Plan |
| Julie Bogorad | Senior Counsel | Independence Blue Cross |
| Arnab Bose | Chief Scientific Officer | UST |
| Howard Brill | Senior Vice President, Population Health & Quality | Monroe Plan |
| Claire Brockbank | Director, Policy and Strategy | Building Service 32BJ Benefit Funds |
| Jared Brosch | Associate Professor of Neurology | Indiana University |
| Julia Bruner | Chief Medical Officer | Aetna OhioRISE |
| Kris Burns | Director, Provider Network Governance and Market Enablement | Humana |
| Brian Cardinell | Global Head of Payor Strategy, Solutions and Business Development | Amazon Web Services (AWS) |
| Todd Carlson | Senior Vice President, Engineering | CareSource |
| Caroline Carney | Chief Executive Officer | Magellan Health |
| Jonathan Cho | Vice President, Medicare Product, Strategy, and Innovation | Healthfirst |
| Ken Cohen | Chief Medical Officer | Optum Health |
| Ceci Connolly | President and Chief Executive Officer | Alliance of Community Health Plans |
| Mia Connolly | Director, Market P&L | Oscar Health |
| Kortney Cruz | Senior Vice President, Government Markets | Independence Blue Cross |
| Rishikesh P. Dalal | Regional Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Northeast Region | Humana |
| Raul Daza | Vice President, Payor and Provider Collaboration | GuideWell Health |
| Dennis Depenbusch | Director, New Ventures Initiative | Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, Inc. |
| Louis DeStefano | Senior Vice President, Growth | Oscar Health |
| Todd DeYoung | Associate Vice President, Clinical Vendor Management | Humana |
| Alex Ding | Chief Medical and Public Affairs Officer | DataSpring |
| Meredith Duncan | President and Chief Executive Officer | Texicare |
| Jennifer Eisberg | Vice President, Network Market Enablement | Aetna |
| Michael Ellis | Vice President, Corporate Development | Blue Shield of California |
| Mark El-Tawil | Chief Administration and Finance Executive | Blue Cross Blue Shield Arizona |
| Robert Eubanks | Strategic Advisor | NTT DATA |
| Melanie Fernando | President and Chief Executive Officer | Aetna Better Health of Illinois |
| Michael Fierro-Randazzo | Vice President, Health Plan Operations | Texicare |
| Sansei Fowler | Senior Medical Director | CVS Healthspire Payor Solutions |
| Laura Fox | Senior Director, Payment Innovation | Blue Shield of California |
| Thomas Friedman | Executive Administrator | North Carolina State Health Plan |
| Nancy Garrett | Vice President Market and Provider Analytics | Highmark Health |
| Cristal Gary | President and Chief Executive Officer | Meridian Health Plan of Illinois |
| Chris Gay | Chief Executive Officer | Evry Health |
| Thomas Gilbertson | Senior Vice President, AI and Automation | WellSense Health Plan |
November 2–3, 2026 · Swissotel Chicago
See the Speakers Live And Continue the Conversation After
Every session is open to every attendee. After the session, speakers are in the hallway, at receptions, and at roundtables. That's where the real conversations happen.