Signature Series 2026
2026 Theme: Health Care Payment
In 2026, the Alliance for Health Policy will mark the 10th year of its flagship annual Signature Series by examining one of the most foundational and least understood drivers of the health care system: how health care is paid for.
Day to day, health care payment is a powerful driver of how care is delivered and experienced by patients, providers, and communities. Payment systems reflect what matters to us as a society and what we choose to invest in, influencing access, quality, affordability, innovation, and equity across the system.
The 2026 Signature Series brings together experts from across the health care and policy landscape to examine how payment systems function today and what they could do in the future. This topic reflects the interests of the Alliance for Health Policy’s diverse community of policymakers, industry leaders, providers, researchers, and patient voices. Through listening and expert engagement, we heard that today’s payment landscape is a layered mix of models, mandates, and decades of patchwork reform. And yet, payment remains one of the most powerful levers for shaping behavior and outcomes across the health care system.
Through the Alliance for Health Policy’s unique model of listening, expert engagement, and nonpartisan education, the Series will explore how payment policy drives behavior across the system and how better alignment could support a more sustainable, effective, and equitable health care system. Insights from this year-long initiative will equip policymakers with the context and understanding needed to navigate complex payment debates and inform future policy decisions.
2026 Series Programs
- Publication of Insights Report (Virtual)
- Exclusive Thought Leader Working Group Session & Reception (Washington, DC)
- Spotlight Webinar (Virtual)
- Signature Series Summit & Reception (Washington, DC)
- Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill (Washington, DC)
- Publication of Series Report (Virtual)
Event dates to be announced.
Related News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:February 4, 2026 The Alliance for Health Policy Releases New Insights Report on Health Care Payment Ahead of 2026 Signature Series – Report informed by in-depth interviews with experts across the health ecosystem will shape the Alliance’s 2026 Signature Series on health care payment Washington, D.C. — The...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJuly 29, 2025 The Alliance for Health Policy Announces 2026 Signature Series Theme on “Health Care Payment: Where We Are, Where We Are Going” – Following a successful summit on aging, the Alliance announces 2026 focus on U.S. health care financing – Yearlong series to convene diverse stakeholders...
Reports
Event Details
Event Description Health care payment is not a single system, instead, it is a set of interconnected structures across drug, physician/provider, and hospital domains, each with its own logic, incentives, and players. When it comes to jurisdiction in Congress and the administration, it can seem even more complex. Through deep listening with experts and policymakers, […]
2026 Signature Series Summit Welcome Reception Health care payment touches every corner of the system — and the people working to get it right are coming together. Join us the evening before the Signature Series Summit for a networking reception with colleagues, experts, and changemakers from across the health care and policy landscape. This FREE […]
2026 Signature Series Summit – Health Care Payment: Where We Are, Where We Are Going How we pay for health care shapes what care gets delivered, to whom, and at what cost. Yet the payment conversation in Washington often moves faster than the understanding behind it. The Signature Series Summit on Health Care Payment is […]
