Today marks the opening of the AMA National Advocacy Conference, which runs through Wednesday and brings the power of organized medicine to the nation’s capital. The hundreds of physicians and medical society executives attending will hear from members of Congress and the administration about federal efforts to improve health care and advocate on crucial health care issues affecting physicians and patients.
Among the featured speakers at the conference is Mark Cuban, who co-founded Cost Plus Drugs in 2019. The website has helped transform U.S. medication pricing. Cuban also is well-known from his roles as former majority owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and frequent panelist on ABC’s “Shark Tank.”
Another featured speaker is Sanjay Gupta, MD, an Atlanta neurosurgeon and CNN’s chief medical correspondent. In addition, attendees will hear from officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as well as a bipartisan group of members of the House and Senate.
The physicians gathering in Washington for the conference will build on a raft of victories accomplished early in the year—wins that were only possible because the AMA brought the full strength of its advocacy to Capitol Hill. That powerful effort encompasses thousands of interactions with congressional offices, hundreds of letters and resources, congressional testimony and more, says the new “AMA Advocacy Impact Report.”
On the digital side, the AMA has racked up more than 106,00 contacts to Congress and nearly 7.2 million digital media engagements through the AMA Patients’ Action Network and the AMA Physicians’ Grassroots Network.
That kind of sustained and focused advocacy pays off. The federal government funding package passed in January includes several AMA-backed provisions that will directly affect physicians and their patients:
- Medicare telehealth coverage extended for two more years, preserving essential access for patients nationwide.
- A 3.1% bonus reinstated for physicians in Medicare alternative payment models, helping stabilize practices participating in value-based care.
- Expansion of the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program to include virtual services through 2029, improving access for at-risk patients.
- New requirements for Medicare Advantage plans to maintain accurate, regularly updated provider directories, reducing administrative burdens and patient confusion.
- Extension of the Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver through 2030, supporting innovative, physician-led care models.
- A five-year extension of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, continuing vital efforts to reduce stigma around physician mental health.
- Targeted PBM reforms that increase transparency and move us closer to lowering prescription drug costs for patients.
- Reauthorized PREEMIE Reauthorization Act, expanding research on preterm birth, and the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act, increasing funding to $100 million annually through 2030 to prevent maternal mortality.
“Health care is at a defining moment—a moment that demands clarity of purpose, steady physician
leadership and an unwavering commitment to patients,” AMA CEO and Executive Vice President John Whyte, MD, MPH, wrote in the “AMA Advocacy Impact Report.”
He noted that the AMA “is ensuring that physicians’ voices are heard on Capitol Hill, driving decisions that will shape the future of medicine.”
The report “reflects the breadth of the AMA’s national advocacy efforts in 2025 and underscores a fundamental belief that when physicians and organized medicine advocate for a better health care system, everyone benefits,” Dr. Whyte wrote.
Protecting access to care
As many as 15 million Americans could lose their health insurance due to provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and related Affordable Care Act policies, says the AMA report.
Throughout the debate on that legislation, the AMA was vocal about the potential harms to patients. Now, the report notes, the AMA is continuing to press federal agencies to prioritize patient access in implementing regulations and convening state and specialty medical societies to share information, strategize and strengthen advocacy in every state to lessen the negative impact on Medicaid and marketplace enrollees and physician practices.
Among other things, the AMA has created a landing page outlining the changes to Medicaid, the ACA and other key provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act with easily digestible summaries and a one-stop shop for the AMA’s press statements and advocacy on the legislation that will have a major impact on the health care landscape for years to come.
Notably, the AMA scored a victory recently to protect the beneficiaries of more than 2,000 recipients of grants from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
After news of the cuts emerged, the AMA quickly called for the grants to be restored, explaining that “these programs help physicians and communities provide lifesaving, evidence-based care, and losing this funding would make it harder for patients to access critical services such as medications for opioid use disorder, naloxone and mental health treatment, especially in rural and underserved areas.”
Less than two days later, recipients got word that the termination notices had been withdrawn—thanks to the power of AMA advocacy “and a groundswell of grassroots activity across the country,” says the report.
Fixing Medicare pay, prior authorization
Protecting access to Medicaid is one of three key issues (PDF) that physicians attending the National Advocacy Conference will address in Capitol Hill meetings Wednesday.
The other two are reforming Medicare physician payment and fixing prior authorization. The AMA is leading the charge to reform the Medicare payment system. After adjusting for inflation, Medicare physician payment has dropped 33% since 2001 (JPG).
The AMA also is fighting to fix prior authorization by challenging insurance companies to eliminate care delays, patient harms and practice hassles. The average physician practice completes 45 prior authorizations per physician per week. According to the most recent AMA survey (PDF), 94% of physicians say prior auth delays care; 24% said that prior auth has led to a serious adverse event for a patient in their care. The AMA’s forceful advocacy on these and other issues also are detailed in the “AMA Advocacy Impact Report.”
Shaping AI in medicine
With nearly 70% of physicians telling the AMA that they see an advantage to use augmented intelligence (AI) tools, the AMA report says it is self-evidence that health “will have a profound impact on medicine.”
Lawmakers at the federal and state levels are moving quickly on the issue. “Physicians must play a leading role in these discussions to ensure AI is an asset to them and their patients—and not a burden,” says the report.
From AI implementation to digital health adoption and EHR usability, the AMA is fighting to make technology work for physicians, ensuring that it is an asset to doctors. That includes recently launching the AMA Center for Digital Health and AI to give physicians a powerful voice in shaping how AI and other digital tools are harnessed to improve the patient and clinician experience.
At the federal level, AMA advocacy is focused on:
- Engaging with Congress and the executive branch on AI issues currently on the agenda.
- Preparing to increase advocacy around regulations of AI chatbots and issues of deepfakes of physicians.
- Escalating its continued push for transparency requirements for AI technologies, updated data privacy and cybersecurity protections, oversight on payer use of AI for claims determinations, and addressing issues of accountability and liability.
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