Register for the 2023 State Advocacy Summit
For the first time in two years, the AMA State Advocacy Summit is being held in person, from Jan. 12-14, 2023, at the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona. Registration is now open.
More than 200 physician leaders and medical society staff attend the annual AMA State Advocacy Summit. The conference offers participants an opportunity to share their organizations' state legislative and regulatory priorities, concerns, strategies and tactics with advocacy leaders from other medical societies. Conference content focuses on key health care issues that states will likely address in the coming legislative sessions, such as prior authorization, scope of practice, telehealth, physician wellness, the overdose epidemic and reproductive health.
This meeting is always a reinvigorating way to connect with colleagues at the start of the year to strategize for the upcoming state legislative sessions—hearing about other organizations’ priorities, batting around ideas on best tactics and sharing space to strategize on the biggest issues facing medicine.
Attending puts you on the ground to directly impact state health policy by getting the information you need to effect change. It provides the opportunity to join advocacy leaders from other medical societies and hear from expert speakers.
Preventing coverage losses as the PHE unwinds
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Beccera recently extended the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) for another 90 days, effective Oct. 13. While the PHE remains in effect, state Medicaid programs are required to keep people continuously enrolled as a condition of receiving increased federal matching funds. Once the PHE expires, states will begin processing eligibility redeterminations for all Medicaid/CHIP enrollees and the continuous coverage requirement will be lifted.
In a new issue brief (PDF), the AMA outlines key strategies intended to help states prevent coverage losses as the PHE unwinds. Some of the strategies, such as streamlining enrollment and renewal processes and investing in outreach and enrollment assistance, will help states ensure that Medicaid/CHIP coverage is appropriately retained by individuals who remain eligible for it. To prevent gaps in coverage, states are also encouraged to facilitate transitions—including automatic transitions that meet certain standards—from health insurance coverage for which an individual is no longer eligible to other affordable coverage.
