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Week of Aug. 14
AMA statement on executive order changing childhood vaccine schedule
- “Vaccines are among the most thoroughly studied, effective tools we have to protect children from serious vaccine-preventable diseases,” says a statement from AMA President Willie Underwood III, MD, MSc, MPH. “Altering a proven vaccination schedule without credible evidence risks weakening public confidence and putting children’s health at risk.”
Four huge Medicare pay reforms are part of new bipartisan House bill
- With more physician Medicare pay cuts proposed for 2027, a new comprehensive, bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would finally make structural changes that are needed to prevent those cuts and create a payment system that helps ensure that America’s seniors have access to quality, value-based healthcare. The AMA-supported Patients First Act (H.R. 9693) addresses four core reforms that the AMA and organized medicine have long sought from Washington. Urge your representative to cosponsor the Patients First Act.
View the Aug. 14 issue
Week of Aug. 7
AMA launches new awards program: Nominations now open
Aug. 7, 2026
Beginning in 2027, AMA Honors will present three marquee awards celebrating transformative innovation, public health leadership and trusted communication. The inaugural awards ceremony will be held Feb. 23, 2027, at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., during the AMA National Advocacy Conference. Nominations for the inaugural awards are now open and will be accepted through Nov. 2, 2026. To learn more about eligibility requirements and the nomination process, visit the AMA Honors web page.
Senate introduces Provider Reimbursement Stability Act
- Aug. 7, 2026
- S. 5180, a companion piece of legislation to H.R. 8163, which passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee unanimously earlier this year, would modernize Medicare’s physician fee schedule.
AMA calls on CMS to significantly rework Medicaid work requirements rule to prevent improper disenrollments and administrative burdens on patients and physicians
- Aug. 7, 2026
- The AMA urged CMS to revise the rule and expressed concerns that, as written, the rule will result in many eligible patients losing or being denied Medicaid coverage because they will be unable to navigate the complex administrative process required to demonstrate compliance or obtain an exemption.
View the Aug. 7 issue
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