Counselor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services
Dr. Cha currently serves as Counselor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with a portfolio that includes the Food and Drug Administration, and coordination of COVID-19 response across the Department. Prior to joining HHS, he served as the Chief Medical Officer for United Healthcare Community & State, responsible for about 6 million Medicaid and CHIP members in 29 states and the District of Columbia. Before that time, Dr. Cha served in federal government for about 12 years prior to that, leading state innovations at the Center on Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and also served as first Chief Medical Officer for the Center on Medicaid and CHIP Services, both within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. He also served 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.