The 2026 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference kicks off today in San Francisco, with industry bigwigs descending on the city for a week of critical meetings, financial deep dives and dealmaking.
Highlights on the conference agenda include back-to-back presentations from nonprofit health systems, showcases from trendy private companies and appearances from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon as well as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Our team is on site to capture the biggest headlines and hottest topics throughout the show, and, before JPM officially gets underway, here's a look at some of the key topics we're watching:
AI will be the talk of JPM
For health tech and digital health companies, artificial intelligence will dominate the conversations at JPM. But the focus has evolved quite a bit since last year's JPM as investors, founders and health tech executives are much more focused on what's working, what's not and what's showing real ROI, industry leaders say.
Even AI companies that traditionally haven't played in healthcare are making major announcements at JPM as they push deeper into the sector. To kick off the conference, Anthropic unveiled Claude for Healthcare, marking its continued foray into regulated, high-stakes clinical environments.
Nvidia is slated to present Monday late afternoon to highlight its computing capabilities and AI infrastructure. The AI chipmaker has quietly become an influential player in health tech and life sciences, inking partnership deals with a growing list of companies.
OpenEvidence, a fast-growing health tech company that developed an AI-powered medical search engine, will likely garner a lot of interest as executives present to investors Monday.
Waystar, a healthcare payment software maker, has been investing in new generative AI capabilities and advanced automation to target administrative waste across the
At the tail end of 2025 came word that New Mountain Capital was reportedly in talks to sell five of its health tech portfolio companies in a deal led by Matt Holt, its former managing director and president of private equity. If that deal were to go through, it would create a major health tech company to rival Optum. All eyes might be on Datavant and Machinify, two of those portfolio companies, as they are slated to present at JPM on the first day of the conference.
As telehealth giant Teladoc Health strives to improve its profitability and financial performance, executive leaders will share the company's turnaround story with investors. In 2025, the company pursued an M&A strategy to drive growth, so investors will likely be watching to see whether those efforts are paying off, along with the company's investments in AI.
Other private companies presenting at the conference include Abridge, which just announced a partnership with Availity to accelerate real-time prior authorization, as well as Ensemble, Cityblock, Verily, Virta Health, Midi Health, Innovaccer and Oura.
It's also expected there will investments unveiled this week timed with the conference. — Heather Landi
Health systems brace for Medicaid cuts
Nonprofit health systems featured at this year’s conference will likely need to address Medicaid cuts slated to hit in the next couple of years in their pitches to potential financiers.
Much of the sector spent its 2025 looking at ways to rightsize operations, with similar efforts expected to continue across the coming year. It’d be no surprise if systems that have achieved, or are on the way toward, sustainable margins underscore that point in their presentations.
The other side of the equation would be demonstrations from the health systems of improving revenue generation realization. While for some organizations that’s included a tighter hold on commercial reimbursement, presenters with strategic opportunities for growth will be sure to highlight the upsides. In recent years, that’s included major ambulatory footprint expansions, dealmaking or fresh construction to enter new markets and inpatient capacity additions to meet solid demand and a growing (or aging) local population.
All the while, systems will be sure to put their bona fides or other distinguishing features on display for the investors. That could involve callouts of clinical excellence recognitions, solid results from a hybrid care model program, recent highlights stemming from academic or research partnerships, or good old-fashioned liquidity and debt leverage metrics.
The major health systems on the schedule for this year’s not-for-profit track are: AdventHealth, Ascension, CommonSpirit Health, Intermountain Health, Cleveland Clinic, Mass General Brigham, Providence, Mayo Clinic, Advocate Health, Sutter Health, Baylor Scott & White Health, Hartford HealthCare, ChristianaCare, Northwestern Medicine, Hackensack Meridian Health, SSM Health, Henry Ford Health, Inova, Tampa General Hospital, The Johns Hopkins Health System, WellSpan Health and Sentara Health. — Dave Muoio
Major health insurers are a no-show—again
One of the biggest takeaways in advance of this year's JPM is who isn't on the agenda.
In December 2024, the insurance industry was rocked by the shocking murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which sparked broad concern about executive protection and safety. With the 2025 JPM conference just one month later, it seems natural that the major companies chose to stay home.
The show also beefed up security in the wake of the shooting to ease the minds of leaders who may have been skittish about travel.
For the 2026 event, that trend appears to hold, with just two health insurance companies listed on the agenda: Alignment Healthcare and Clover Health. Both are smaller firms, and Alignment is headquartered in California.
These companies both presented at the 2025 JPM conference as well. They're also both Medicare Advantage plans, so expect to hear them discuss results from the annual enrollment period, trends around utilization and supplemental benefits.
Clover Health also leans heavily on its tech stack and has, in the past, brought demonstrations of the latest additions to its platform for investors to see at JPM.
The coming year is set to be a complicated one for health insurers as they navigate a cost environment that continues to escalate and a shifting regulatory environment. States must begin to implement work requirements in Medicaid in 2027 as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and managed care organizations will be a key partner in this initiative as state programs establish eligibility determination processes.
Legislators are also actively debating what's next for affordability on the Affordable Care Act's exchanges, which will have a significant impact on how insurers approach rate filings. — Paige Minemyer