The American Medical Association is your powerful ally in patient care and unprecedented times require bold action. We are proud to share how we are fighting for you. Some of those advocacy initiatives form part of the AMA Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians, including:

• Reforming Medicare payment
• Fighting scope creep
• Fixing prior authorization
• Reducing physician burnout
• Supporting telehealth

Your Powerful Ally

The AMA helps physicians build a better future for medicine, advocating in the courts and on the Hill to remove obstacles to patient care and confront today’s greatest health crises.

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Download the progress report

The AMA has achieved several wins related to the five critical areas we are addressing with the AMA Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians. Download the progress report to learn more.

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Download the progress report (PDF) and learn about how the AMA is addressing critical areas of the AMA Recovery Plan for Physicians and the wins we have achieved.

Leading the charge to reform Medicare and defending physicians against future cuts.

Here’s what we’ve accomplished

Wins

• Developed a set of principles (PDF) supported by over 120 other medical societies to guide advocacy efforts on Medicare physician payment reform.
• Advocated for significant Quality Payment Program relief in 2020 due to COVID-19—leading to 98% of physicians receiving positive or neutral updates in MIPS.
• Led an advocacy campaign joined by more than 150 other organizations that minimized the 8.5% in Medicare payment cuts originally slated for 2023.

Here’s our next challenge

In progress

• Pushing for comprehensive Medicare reform to increase payment stability, including annual, positive payment updates tied to practice cost inflation to ensure the financial viability of physician practices.

Learn more

Learn more about the AMA's plan for reforming Medicare payment.

AMA Advocacy in Action

Advocacy in action: Leading the charge to reform Medicare pay

Vigorously defending the practice of medicine against scope of practice expansions that threaten patient safety.

Here’s what we’ve accomplished

Wins

• Achieved more than 35 state-level victories in strong collaboration with our Federation partners.
• Struck down legislation allowing physician assistants to practice independently without physician oversight in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
• Stopped bills that would have expanded scope of practice for APRNs in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
• Defeated legislation that would have allowed optometrists to perform surgery in Alabama, Utah and Washington.
• Beat pharmacist-prescribing bills in Alabama and Louisiana and psychologist-prescribing bills in Hawaii and Washington.

Here’s our next challenge

In progress

• Pushing for the Department of Veterans Affairs to reject implementation of inappropriate scope of practice expansions through its Federal Supremacy Project to develop national standards of practice for 50 healthcare occupations, including physicians, advance practice nurses, and others.
• Advocating for physician-led teams and opposing inappropriate scope expansions in individual states and DC.

Solutions

• Launched a new scope microsite providing an easier way for Federation colleagues and physician leaders to access AMA’s scope materials, including geomaps, education and training modules, issue briefs, social media graphics, etc.
• Created a new series of advocacy one-pagers to inform and educate lawmakers on the importance of physician-led care.
• Updated key resources, including scope wheels, which were co-branded with 30 Federation partners. Also updated state law charts on nurse practitioner and physician assistant state scope of practice laws.

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Learn more about the AMA's plan for fighting scope creep.

AMA Advocacy in Action

Advocacy in action: Fighting scope creep

Challenging insurance companies to eliminate care delays, patient harms and practice hassles.

Here’s what we’ve accomplished

Wins

• Supported introduction of the "Getting Over Lengthy Delays in Care as Required by Doctors Act of 2022" (GOLD CARD Act), which would exempt physicians meeting a certain approval rate from prior authorization requirements under Medicare Advantage and collaborated with seven states on introduction of state gold carding legislation.
• Represented physician interests in a federal regulatory task force tasked with streamlining prior authorization via automation.
• Helped to enact prior authorization reform laws in Michigan, Georgia and others.
• Supported introduction of broad reform legislation in New Jersey (PDF) and Washington, D.C. (PDF) and laid the groundwork for 2023 reform efforts in nearly a dozen more states.
• Launched updated state model bill and related resources, that include gold carding provisions and a prohibition on retrospective denials, to support state reform efforts.
• Quantified the patient harm and practice burdens associated with prior authorization via an annual physician survey to drive media attention to this issue and pressure plans to reform their programs.
• Galvanized support for prior authorization reform among physicians and patients via the FixPriorAuth.org website and associated social media campaign.

Here’s our next challenge

In progress

• Strongly advocating for finalization of CMS proposed rules that would enhance transparency, improve care access and reduce administrative burdens for prior authorization programs in government health benefit programs (e.g., Medicare Advantage) and create electronic attachment standards for clinical documentation.

Learn more about the AMA's plan for fixing prior authorization.

AMA Advocacy in Action

Advocacy in action: Fixing prior authorization

Pushing for legislative and other solutions to support physicians, residents and medical students to seek confidential care for wellness, burnout, fatigue and depression.

Here’s what we’ve accomplished

Wins

• Fought for the passage (PDF) of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act which provides essential physician wellness resources and was signed into law on March 18, 2022.
• Established a national campaign to help:
  • States enact confidentiality laws that protect physicians seeking help for wellness, burnout and fatigue and remove inappropriate, stigmatizing questions on physician licensure and renewal applications.
  • Health systems and academic medical institutions remove questions on credentialing and other applications that might prevent physicians, residents, and medical students from seeking care for mental wellness.
• Advocated for new laws in Arizona (PDF) and Delaware (PDF) that protect physicians who seek care from punitive actions.

Solutions

• Recognized health systems for their commitment to organizational well-being through the Joy of Medicine™ program.
• Expanded resources for physicians and health system leadership in understanding physician burnout and how to address it, as well as developing a culture that supports physician well-being.
• Advanced a strategic roadmap to support organizations in their journey to improve professional satisfaction and organizational well-being.
• Built "Organizational Well-Being Assessment" (PDF), a well-being assessment tool, to support organizations in wholistically measuring and taking action to improve the well-being of their organization.
• Hosted a national webinar on ways states can support burnout and wellness efforts for physicians and other health care professionals.

Here’s our next challenge

In progress

• Continuing to provide much needed resources and push for legislative, regulatory and health system changes to support the mental health needs of medical students, residents and practicing physicians.

Learn more

Learn more about the AMA's plan for reducing physician burnout.

AMA Advocacy in Action

Advocacy in action: Reducing physician burnout

Advocating for expanded telehealth policy, research, and resources to ensure physician practice sustainability and fair payment.

Here’s what we’ve accomplished

Wins

• Launched an updated model for and helped to advance state telehealth legislation and policy.
• Achieved passage of legislation to extend Medicare telehealth coverage through 2024. 

Solutions

• Held a webinar on new telehealth policy, current state licensure laws regarding telehealth and continued solutions that can be implemented moving forward.
• Released an issue brief (PDF) outlining specific policy proposals to take significant and necessary steps toward promoting and ensuring equity in telehealth.
• Published the Future of Health Report (PDF) and through the Future of Health Immersion Program provided curated webinars, interactive peer-to-peer sessions, virtual discussions and library of resources to advance evidenced-based telehealth.

Learn more

Learn more about the AMA's plan for supporting telehealth.

AMA Advocacy in Action

Advocacy in action: Supporting telehealth

The AMA advocates at the federal and state levels on key health care issues impacting patients and physicians. Learn more about our efforts in public health and pandemic response, population care and health disparities and removing obstacles to care.

Public health and pandemic response

• Drug overdose epidemic 
• Preventing gun violence 
• COVID-19 
• Tobacco 

Population care and health disparities

• Reproductive health 
• Maternal health 
• Access to care 
• Immigration 
• Anti-racism efforts 
• LGBTQ+ health

Removing obstacles to care

• Surprise billing 
• Regulatory relief 
• Privacy and security of health data 
• Medical liability reform 
• Protecting competition in health care and related markets 
• Health policy research

Put telehealth into practice

The AMA leads the charge to expand advocacy, research and resources that keep physician and patient needs at the forefront of telehealth delivery.

Join the Movement