Highlights from the 2025 AMA State Advocacy Summit
On Jan. 9-11, more than 300 physician leaders and medical society staff joined the AMA at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, for the annual State Advocacy Summit.
Kicking off this year’s conference was ophthalmologist and part-time comedian Will E. Flanary, MD. Dr. Flanary moonlights in his free time as “Dr. Glaucomflecken,” a social media personality who creates medical-themed comedy shorts and hosts the podcast “Knock Knock Hi” with his wife for an audience of over 4 million across social media. In his keynote address, Dr. Flanary discussed the importance of keeping a sense of humanity, and occasional humor, at the center of health care.
Conference content—with 40+ expert outside speakers—covered key health care topics that states are likely to address in their upcoming legislative sessions, including sessions such as:
- Medical student and physician wellness
- Scope of practice from the inside out
- Reforming payer practices to improve access to care
- Augmented intelligence—balancing interests and identifying appropriate state guardrails
- Overview of state legislatures, policy and politics
- A conversation with state legislators
- Strategies to protect access to reproductive health care services
- Mental health and substance use disorder parity
- Private equity: State policy solutions to quell the corporatization of health care
Save the date for next year’s State Advocacy Summit—Jan. 8-10, 2026, at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
