What’s the news: In a win for physicians and other health professionals’ mental health and well-being, Congress recently reauthorized the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act so that lifesaving programs can continue through September 2030.
First enacted in 2022, the law supports federal initiatives to reduce burnout and improve workplace conditions and to improve mental and behavioral health among health care professionals. It is named after New York City emergency physician Lorna Breen, MD, who died by suicide in the early days of the pandemic.
This is one of eight major wins for patients and physicians included in the latest federal budget deal— the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026. These victories didn’t happen by chance. They happened because the AMA fought for them, and they were only possible because the AMA brought the full strength of its advocacy to Capitol Hill. That powerful effort encompasses thousands of interactions with congressional offices, hundreds of letters and resources, congressional testimony and more, says the new “AMA Advocacy Impact Report.”
The next step in ensuring the promise of the Act is to secure funding. The AMA is committed to working with the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and its partners to work with lawmakers in Congress to fully fund the programs covered by the Act. The AMA does this to support physicians across the country, including in communities with health care worker shortages, rural communities and those experiencing high rates of health care worker burnout because of administrative burdens.
The act mandates annual stigma-reduction campaigns and broadens grant eligibility to address administrative burdens. The AMA has supported this program since its inception and strongly supports its reauthorization. It partners in the foundation’s ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare initiative that is working to bring fundamental change to medicine to overcome the pervasive and persistent challenges to the mental health of health care workers everywhere.
As the leader in physician well-being, the AMA is reducing physician burnout by removing administrative burdens and providing real-world solutions to help doctors rediscover the Joy in Medicine®.
Why this win matters: Physicians are often reluctant to seek help for their own mental and behavioral health, in part because of stigma surrounding that care and also out of fear that they may lose their medical license.
Administrative burdens and other pressures of the job lead to physicians reporting high levels of burnout, with just below 50% reporting one or more symptoms in 2024.
Work done through the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act is helping change the culture to ensure physicians are more comfortable seeking mental health care and changing the work environment to reduce burnout.
For example, new funding would expand grant programs for hospitals, health systems, health professions schools and community organizations to improve the systems in which health workers are educated, trained and practice. The program has already supported more than 250,000 health care workers, with some grantees reporting a 37% reduction in burnout and a 50% decrease in mental health conditions.
The additional funding would also continue the national, evidence-based Impact Wellbeing initiative to help hospitals, clinics and other facilities create an environment where health care workers have the support, structures and culture needed to deliver quality, safe care. So far, the initiative has provided more than 35,000 health care leaders with training materials to address specific operational factors and burdens driving the workforce’s burnout. One hospital saw a 10-to-15-minute reduction in documentation time per patient visit, directly improving job satisfaction by 47%.
“The people we rely on in our most vulnerable moments have been facing a hidden crisis of their own. Long shifts, administrative red tape, and the emotional weight of caregiving have led to a national epidemic of burnout and poor mental health. When our health workers are burnt out or struggling with mental health, it affects the quality of care for every American,” said Corey Feist, co-founder and CEO of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and Dr. Breen’s brother-in-law.
Learn more: Discover strides that the AMA and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and others are making to remove stigmatizing language from licensing and credentialing applications with this AMA issue brief (PDF).
Visit AMA Advocacy in Action to find out what’s at stake in reducing physician burnout and other advocacy priorities the AMA is actively working on.
