Faculty Profile: Adam Herbst

Adam S. Herbst is a partner in Sheppard Mullin’s Healthcare practice and a nationally regarded leader at the intersection of law, policy, and healthcare delivery. His career spans nearly three decades across government, health systems, nonprofits, and the private sector, giving him a unique ability to advise clients not only as legal counsel but also as a strategist, operator, and policy architect. Adam is recognized as a leading authority on healthcare policy, Medicaid innovation, and system transformation. He has deep expertise in the corporate and transactional dimensions of healthcare, advising on mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, financings, and joint ventures involving hospitals, long-term care facilities, managed care organizations, private equity funds, and mission-driven nonprofits. He regularly structures governance arrangements, negotiates complex management and administrative services agreements, and guides providers and investors through multi-state regulatory approvals and compliance regimes.

Adam is also widely regarded for his mastery of Medicaid law, financing, and policy. He advises on 1115 waivers, state-directed payments, managed care contracting, and Medicaid reimbursement strategies across multiple states. His work includes HCBS waiver design, PACE program expansion, long-term and post-acute care reimbursement, and disability-focused services. He integrates financing rules with corporate structuring, helping clients build sustainable, compliant growth models while advancing care for vulnerable populations.

Before joining Sheppard Mullin, Adam served as Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health and Special Advisor to two Governors. In those roles, he led sweeping initiatives in Medicaid transformation, long-term care reform, and managed care modernization, and he chaired New York’s Master Plan for Aging. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Adam played a critical leadership role in the State’s emergency response—coordinating with federal partners, creating COVID-only nursing homes, ensuring hospital surge capacity, stabilizing long-term care, and supporting one of the largest vaccine distribution efforts in the country.

Adam’s career is deeply rooted in the nonprofit and mission-driven sector. He has run a children’s hospital, led a major community health center, and worked with faith-based organizations and disability service agencies to sustain programs through periods of growth, transformation, and financial stress. He has also advised nonprofits on governance, financing, and regulatory oversight, often stepping in to stabilize and preserve critical community services when other providers could not.

As a thought leader, Adam is a frequent speaker, writer, and advisor on healthcare transformation, Medicaid reform, health equity, aging, and disability policy. He has led high-profile webinars, authored widely read pieces on regulatory reform and system financing, and spoken before national and state associations, investor groups, and academic institutions. He teaches healthcare law and policy at Columbia School of Public Health, New York Law School and the University of Miami, and he is regularly sought out by policymakers and industry leaders to frame strategies that respond to shifting federal and state priorities. Adam’s clients value his ability to combine “inside baseball” knowledge of government processes with sophisticated corporate deal experience and a deep understanding of mission-driven care. Whether guiding a multi-state transaction, structuring a PACE or HCBS program, advising on Medicaid waivers, or supporting aging and disability service organizations, he brings a holistic approach that integrates law, policy, operations, and strategy.