AMA in the News: April 2025

AMA in the News covers media coverage and mentions about the American Medical Association. Find articles recognizing our efforts in health care, advocacy, medical education and improvements in public health. Read coverage on the achievements of our leadership and the members of the AMA community.

1. Medicare administrator explores cutting red tape for health insurance approvals 

   1. Bloomberg, April 29, 2025
   2. The American Medical Association, which has advocated for limits on prior authorizations, commended the sense of urgency Oz has demonstrated on the issue. (Publication subscription is required for full or unlimited access.)

2. Why Medicare Pay can’t keep pace with rising practice costs: 10 notes

   1. Becker’s ASC, April 29, 2025
   2. The American Medical Association is advocating for physician reimbursements to be tied to the Medicare Economic Index, a measure developed in 1975 to track annual changes in physicians’ operating costs, according to a recent report (PDF) from the organization. (Free registration is required to view content.)

3. How AI can ease the burnout crisis

   1. Physicians Practice, April 29, 2025
   2. A recent American Medical Association (AMA) survey revealed that 48.2% of physicians experienced at least one symptom of burnout last year. This represents a decrease from the 2021 peak of 62.8%, marking the first time in four years the rate has fallen below 50%.

4. To become a doctor, denial helps

   1. New York Magazine, April 28, 2025
   2. The percentage of doctors looking to reduce their hours has doubled in the past decade, according to a recent American Medical Association survey. And a different AMA survey found that more than a third of doctors expressed interest in leaving their jobs entirely within the next two years. (Publication subscription is required for full or unlimited access.)

5. The issues firing up physicians

   1. Beckers ASC, April 28, 2025
   2. “Emerging evidence shows that insurers use automated decision-making systems to create systematic batch denials with little or no human review, placing barriers between patients and necessary medical care,” AMA President Bruce Scott, MD, said. (Free registration is required to view content.)

6. Here's a replacement for prior authorization

   1. Medpage Today, April 27, 2025
   2. According to an American Medical Association survey, prior authorization creates administrative roadblocks that frequently result in delayed care; increases costs for patients, caregivers, clinicians, and employers; and contributes to moral injury. Nearly 25% of physicians report that prior authorization has led to a serious adverse event for a patient in their care.

7. Former DOJ officials warn of ‘big health care’ monopolies

   1. Medical Economics, April 24, 2025
   2. Similarly, CVS Health’s vertical integration, including its merger with Aetna, has drawn criticism from the American Medical Association for potentially reducing competition and increasing costs.

8. Prior authorization: How it evolved, why it burdens physicians and patients, and the promise of AI

   1. Medical Economics, April 24, 2025
   2. Doctors now juggle an average of 43 authorization requests a week—about 12 staff hours that could be spent on patient care, an American Medical Association survey shows.

9. Why I closed my OBGYN practice after 27 years

   1. Chicago Medicine, April 22, 2025
   2. The AMA believes physicians should practice in whatever environment works best for them, including private practice. But increasingly, because of the way Medicare pays physician practices, that option is disappearing. (Publication subscription is required for full or unlimited access.)

10. MedPAC renews push to improve RVU, in line with calls to create alternative to AMA’s RUC

    1. Inside Health Policy, April 21, 2025
    2. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) unanimously voted April 10 to recommend that Congress direct HHS to improve the accuracy of Medicare’s relative value units (RVUs) by collecting up-to-date cost data, a move that a commissioner suggested should go hand-in-hand with an idea floated by key lawmakers and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to establish an independent panel of experts to help CMS better vet recommendations from the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC). (Publication subscription is required for full or unlimited access.)

11. Facing financial jeopardy, clinics sue to stop UnitedHealth from collecting on emergency loans

    1. Minnesota Star Tribune, April 16, 2025
    2. “Physician practices are still suffering severe financial distress as a result of the cyberattack nearly 14 months after the breach was first discovered,” wrote James Madara, MD, the AMA’s CEO and executive vice president.

12. Why many physicians do not stay at their first jobs for the long term

    1. Physicians Weekly, April 16, 2025
    2. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), understanding what originally motivated a physician to take a job might help an employer retain that physician as their career progresses.

13. Why are more Houston health care providers leaving the profession?

    1. KPRC Houston, April 16, 2025
    2. “The solution is not utilizing AI to more rapidly deny more,” Dr. Scott said. “The American Medical Association feels strongly that medical decisions should be made by a physician consulting with a patient, not by a computer algorithm at their insurance company.”

14. Optum levying strict measures on Change outage loan repayment, AMA says

    1. Healthcare Finance News, April 15, 2025
    2. The American Medical Association is urging Optum to stop its approach for recouping Change Healthcare cyberattack-related loans and to suspend all claim filing deadlines associated with the resulting outage.

15. 4 things Docs should know about new Medicare Advantage rules

    1. Medscape, April 11, 2025
    2. The American Medical Association (AMA) has alleged that insurers “decide to back out of paying or try to recoup payment already made” after care has been provided. “Insurers will frequently cite vague reasons such as overpayment on their part, a redetermination that approved care was not medically necessary, or incomplete paperwork,” the AMA said in a 2024 post on its website. (Free registration is required to view content.)

16. He's next in line to lead the American Medical Association. He's also a Mayo Clinic cancer patient

    1. Post Bulletin, April 10, 2025
    2. In December, Bobby Mukkamala, MD, underwent surgery at Mayo Clinic to remove a brain tumor. Having this experience ahead of his American Medical Association presidency, he said, "can't be an accident."

17. MedPAC proposal on Medicare physician pay prompts praise from AMA

    1. Medical Economics, April 10, 2025
    2. That is “a timely recommendation as lawmakers wrestle with how to handle yet another cut in physician pay,” according to AMA. Association President Bruce A. Scott, MD, issued a statement of support similar to previous ones because the issue has been under discussion for months. In fact, Scott noted MedPAC has suggested the same to Congress at least three consecutive years.

18. President-elect of American Medical Association visits Rochester following surgery at Mayo Clinic

    1. KTTC, April 8, 2025
    2. A national figure in medicine made a stop in Rochester this week just months after undergoing surgery at Mayo Clinic to remove a brain tumor.
    3. Bobby Mukkamala, MD, is a head and neck surgeon and the president-elect of the American Medical Association, the organization that represents doctors across the country.

19. AI can back up clinicians in the battle of burnout

    1. Nature, April 7, 2025
    2. But in a recent survey by the American Medical Association, two thirds of more than 1,000 doctors queried were enthusiastic about AI's potential.

20. Kennedy announces support for measles vaccine amid outbreak

    1. Politico, April 6, 2025
    2. “The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is extraordinarily safe and effective,” Bruce Scott, MD, president of the American Medical Association, said in a statement last month, as measles spread throughout Texas. (Publication subscription is required for full or unlimited access.)