AMA Update: Report from 2025 AMA Interim Meeting for the House of Delegates
By Lee Dossett, MD
Kentucky AMA Delegate
This past November I was honored to serve as a delegate for the 2025 AMA Interim Meeting for the House of Delegates in National Harbor, Maryland just outside of Washington DC. Lexington maintained our strong representation in the KMA delegation with me and our alternate delegate, Dr. Christine Ko, both making our inaugural trip. Prior to getting into details of the meeting, I want to recognize the long-term service of Dr. David Bensema who stepped down last year after many years of service. His advice and insight have been invaluable to me as I transitioned it.
The meeting focused on real-world problems physicians face every day — from administrative burdens to scope of practice threats, technology, and workforce well-being. Below are some of the key actions, policy directions, and takeaways that directly affect our work in medicine — and importantly, our patients. On Friday evening we heard opening addresses from AMA President Bobby Mukkamala, MD and AMA CEO John J. Whyte, MD, MPH, both emphasizing AMA’s commitment to tackling system dysfunction and restoring physician voice and agency in health care delivery. On Monday, we heard from current CMS administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. 2025 was an eventful year in healthcare policy given the anticipated impact from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the controversy over the vaccine advisory panel. A respectful house of delegates listened to his speech on a range of issues. It is available on YouTube to watch in full (CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA, speaks to the AMA House of Delegates – YouTube), and I recommend everyone takes the 30 minutes to watch it.
The following are some of the key issues that resolutions were adopted on:
- Prior Authorization Reform
Delegates passed new directives for stronger AMA advocacy on prior authorization abuses. Specifically, the association will push to eliminate prior authorization requirements for low-cost medications and procedures where evidence supports safe practice without delay — a direct strike at unnecessary administrative barriers to care.
- Aggressive Advocacy to Address Medicare Physician Payment Instability
The HOD reaffirmed and strengthened AMA advocacy against ongoing Medicare physician payment cuts, emphasizing that the current payment system is financially unsustainable. Policies supported legislative fixes to prevent annual cuts, indexing payments to inflation (Medicare Economic Index), and long‑term payment reform rather than short‑term patches
- Defending Physician-Led, Team-Based Care
Delegates bolstered AMA’s capacity to fight scope creep — opposing inappropriate expansions of practice that jeopardize patient safety and dilute physician oversight. Several actions were adopted to strengthen advocacy in areas like ophthalmology, obstetrics, pathology, and other specialties.
4. Expansion of Training and Governance for Health AI
Delegates adopted policy to significantly expand education and CME on health‑care artificial intelligence across the entire medical education continuum—medical school through practicing physicians. Emphasis was placed on ethical development and deployment of AI, bias mitigation, workflow integration and patient safety, and physician leadership in AI governance. These policies reflect growing recognition that AI is already embedded in clinical environments and requires structured physician oversight
5 . Rural Health and Payment Models
Recognizing acute financial stress in rural health systems, new policy was adopted supporting minimum standards for alternative payment models for rural hospitals and care delivery, aimed at keeping rural patients connected to essential medical services.
Expect more focused advocacy as these policies translate into targeted federal and state actions in 2026.
The House of Delegates reconvenes at the 2026 AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago, where I look forward to representing LMS and KMA.