Highlights from the 2024 AMA Interim Meeting
The 2024 Interim Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates covered a range of critical topics facing the nation’s health care system.
Medicare physician payment remains the top advocacy priority for the AMA, with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposing another 2.8% cut for next year. Adjusted for inflation in practice costs, Medicare physician payments have already declined 29% since 2001 (PDF). “This puts us in an impossible position,” said AMA President Bruce A. Scott, MD, in his opening address. “Either turn away patients, reduce our hours, or close our doors for good. And in each of these scenarios, it’s our patients who suffer, particularly our nation’s elderly and disabled persons.”
Other key issues at the meeting included:
Prior authorization: Delegates adopted policy to “support the position that the practice of retrospective denial of payment or payment recoupment for care which has been precertified by an insurer should be prohibited under federal statute, except when materially false or fraudulent information has knowingly been given to the insurer by the physician, hospital or ancillary service provider to obtain precertification.”
Physician-led care: Delegates adopted new policy focused on ensuring the preservation of physician supervision in the emergency department while addressing the unique needs of rural and remote facilities.
Telehealth: Delegates modified existing policy to help remove barriers and make health IT accessible for all and to achieve equitable adoption. Separately, delegates also reaffirmed policy calling for appropriate payment for care delivered via telehealth and making telehealth reimbursement permanent for Medicare and all health insurance providers.
Augmented intelligence: Delegates adopted as policy a comprehensive set of principles on the development, deployment and use of augmented intelligence in health care.
For more information, view the complete day-to-day overview of meeting highlights.
More articles in this issue
- Nov. 15, 2024: Medicare Payment Reform Advocacy Update
- Nov. 15, 2024: National Advocacy Update
- Nov. 15, 2024: State Advocacy Update
