A former Biden administration official with experience in dealing with Medicaid and CHIP issues has been tapped by Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill to serve as Commissioner of Human Services.
Dr. Steven Cha served as counselor to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra from 2021 to 2025 after spending three years as the chief medical officer for UnitedHealthcare Community and State.
Cha also spent over six years at the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, first as chief medical officer and then as a group director in the state innovations group.
“The Department of Human Services supports so many New Jerseyans, including children and seniors, with food aid and healthcare. We need an experienced and proven leader at the helm. That is why I’m excited to announce Dr. Stephen Cha as my nominee for Department of Human Services Commissioner,” said Sherrill. “As we prepare for the devastating impact of Trump’s HR1 on Medicaid and SNAP eligibility, Dr. Cha brings the experience and expertise we need to protect New Jerseyans and deliver for our state.”
He spent nearly six years as a congressional staffer, first for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and later on the House Energy and Commerce Committee
Cha is a graduate of Brown University and Brown Medical School and completed his residency at Montefiore Medical Center. He was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at Yale University School of Medicine. While working for the federal government, Cha spent more than a decade as a part-time primary care physician at a Washington, D.C. homeless shelters.
He will replace Sarah Adelman in the cabinet post.
Becerra, now a candidate for governor of California, called Cha “a proven leader who has taken on some of our nation’s toughest challenges — the COVID pandemic, an infant formula shortage, the maternal health crisis.”
At HHS, Cha’s responsibilities included the Food and Drug Administration; the Indian Health Service; the National Institutes of Health; the Agency for Healthcare Research and Policy; and the Health Resources and Services Administration. He also worked on maternal health and cannabis issues, and coordinating the department’s response to COVID-19 and the infant formula shortgae.
“He understands that leadership demands courage, candor, and team effort,” Becerra stated. “In these critical times in the fight for healthcare affordability and Medicaid coverage, Gov.-elect Sherrill will have a battle-tested partner at her side.”
Cha said he was looking forward to working with Sherrill.
“Like the Governor-elect, I share a deep commitment to supporting people who are struggling to get by. As we face extraordinary challenges coming from the federal government, the Sherrill-Caldwell administration is committed to delivering effective services to our neighbors, whether that is through NJ FamilyCare, food assistance, or support for our elderly and people with disabilities,” he said. “I’m excited to get to work with the team at DHS and hit the ground running on these priorities,”
