Advocacy Update

Jan. 24, 2025: State Advocacy Update

| 2 Min Read

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.  

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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.

Bruce Scott, MD, and Will E. Flanary, MD, at State Advocacy Summit

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. 

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