American Medical Association Update: Key Policies from Annual and Interim 2025 AMA Meetings
The delegation to the American Medical Association (AMA), representing the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL), includes physicians with a wide range of professional experience from emerging leaders in minimally invasive gynecology to accomplished senior surgeons. This variety of representation reflects the depth and diversity of the AAGL membership, ensuring that the perspectives of all generations influence the delegation’s work. Through active participation in the AMA House of Delegates, your AAGL representatives promote the interests of gynecologic surgeons in national policy discussions, advocating for issues that impact patient care, surgical innovation, and the future of minimally invasive surgery. The AAGL’s presence within the AMA highlights the organization’s strong commitment to leadership at the highest levels of organized medicine and its key role in shaping healthcare policy. We are truly honored to represent you.
AAGL Delegates to the American Medical Association House of Delegates
Joseph M. Maurice, MD, FACOG Sheena Galhotra, MD, FACOG
AAGL Delegate AAGL Delegate
Asha McClurg, MD, FACOG Reilly A. Bealer, MD
AAGL Alternate Delegate AAGL Delegate, Resident and Fellow Section
Brandi Ring, MD, FACOG
AAGL Delegate, Young Physician Section
As your representatives to the American Medical Association House of Delegates, we are pleased to report on significant policy developments from the AMA Annual Meeting in June 2025 and the Interim Meeting in November 2025 that directly impact our field and the patients we serve.
Reproductive Health Care
Reproductive health care remained a central focus at both meetings. At the Annual 2025 meeting, AAGL joined our colleagues from ACOG, ASRM, and ACMGG in continuing to serve as the authority on policies affecting obstetric and gynecologic care. For the first time, we welcomed representatives from the American Urogynecologic Society and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, strengthening our collective voice.
The Interim 2025 meeting built on these efforts, with the AMA taking strong positions opposing efforts to limit access to fertility care. New policy was adopted addressing the promotion of “restorative reproductive medicine” (RRM) as a rebranding that may mislead patients and threaten access to timely, effective fertility care, including IVF. The AMA affirmed that many practices described as restorative reproductive medicine are already integral to evidence-based fertility care and opposed legislative efforts that would codify an RRM-only approach that could restrict patient access to comprehensive reproductive care.
The AMA also called for increased NIH funding for women’s health and reproductive health research to expand understanding of infertility and its underlying causes, recognizing that cost remains the single largest barrier to accessing fertility services.
Federal Health Policy and Research Protection
A major theme at the Annual 2025 meeting was responding to drastic federal health care changes. Mid-meeting, news broke of the sudden dismissal of all voting members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). AAGL’s delegation, along with ACOG, AAFP, AAP, and ACP, quickly drafted an emergency resolution demanding reversal of the ACIP member changes and requesting a Senate investigation. The resolution, endorsed by nearly 40 delegations, passed overwhelmingly.
Additional resolutions adopted at both meetings addressed preserving access to CDC resources, protecting public trust in biomedical research and vaccine safety, and opposing efforts to limit medical research funding through caps on indirect costs. These actions reflect the House of Delegates’ determination to protect the infrastructure of evidence-based medicine.
Artificial Intelligence and Technology
Both meetings advanced significant policy on AI integration in health care. At the Annual 2025 meeting, delegates adopted policies ensuring safe integration of health AI tools and directed the AMA to study and define principles for appropriate AI use in patient care.
The Interim 2025 meeting expanded on this work by adopting comprehensive policy to develop model AI learning objectives and curricular toolkits for medical education across the continuum. Medical students and physicians-in-training are already using AI tools and want formal training on ethics, bias mitigation, evaluation, and safe workflow integration. The policy emphasizes that AI should augment, not replace, physician judgment.
New policies also addressed the proliferation of AI-generated content and deepfakes, establishing safeguards to protect both patients and physicians from fraudulent medical content on social media platforms.
Medicare Payment Reform and Prior Authorization
Medicare physician payment reform remained an urgent priority. The Annual 2025 meeting reaffirmed the AMA’s commitment to payment reform, with extensive discussion of budget reconciliation legislation and its provisions affecting Medicare, Medicaid, and medical student loans. The AMA continues its “Fix Medicare Now” campaign, recognizing that physician payments have declined 30% over the past 25 years when adjusted for inflation.
On prior authorization, both meetings strengthened advocacy efforts. The Interim 2025 meeting adopted policy directing the AMA to advocate that low-cost medications and procedures should not require prior authorization. The AMA also committed to creating a national database to track denial rates, care delays, and costs across major insurers, and continued pressing for state-level gold-carding programs and elimination of repetitive prior authorizations for chronic conditions.
Medical Education and Holistic Review
Both meetings addressed critical issues in medical education. The Annual 2025 meeting elevated obesity as a public health priority in the AMA’s strategic plan. The Interim 2025 meeting tackled the unintended consequences of holistic review in residency selection, where emphasis on research productivity has increased despite limited evidence linking publications to better clinical performance.
New policy directs the AMA to improve holistic and equitable consideration of research, advocacy, service, teaching, mentorship, and other nonresearch domains in medical school and residency selection, and to work with ERAS and other parties to allow applicants to comprehensively showcase experiences beyond publications.
Rural Health Care Access
The Interim 2025 meeting addressed the financial crisis facing rural hospitals, with half now operating in deficits—a 7% increase in just 12 months. The AMA adopted policy supporting minimum standards for alternative payment models to rural hospitals, recognizing that traditional payment structures often fail to cover the actual costs of providing services in rural settings. This is particularly relevant for gynecologic surgeons practicing in rural areas where access to comprehensive women’s health services is already limited.
Physician Well-Being and Practice Environment
Both meetings advanced physician wellness initiatives. The Annual 2025 meeting adopted policies on minimum 12-week maternity leave for physicians in training, protection of the doctor-patient relationship, recruitment challenges for OB-GYN physicians in rural areas, and recognizing pregnancy as a triggering event for insurance plan enrollment.
The Interim 2025 meeting took further steps to protect workplace safety, including addressing occupational exposure to ionizing radiation for physicians performing diagnostic imaging and interventional procedures. New policy also addressed indemnification clauses in physician employment contracts, directing the AMA to develop model state legislation prohibiting clauses requiring physicians to indemnify employers or pay for tail insurance.
Additionally, during the Annual AMA meeting, AAGL, in collaboration with ACOG, AUA, and ACS, wrote and was able to pass its first policy, H-406.985 Appropriate Use of Data from Surgical Practices. This policy protects surgeons from inappropriate use of operating room data
Scope of Practice
The Interim 2025 meeting strengthened the AMA’s capacity to fight scope creep with four substantial policy actions defending physician-led, team-based care across multiple specialties. This year alone, more than 150 bills designed to expand scope of practice for non-physicians were defeated, demonstrating the effectiveness of coordinated advocacy efforts.
Public Health Initiatives
The Interim 2025 meeting adopted policy supporting sustained, stable, and equitable state and federal funding for school-based mental health professionals, with priority for rural and underserved communities. This responds to the rescission of more than $1 billion in mental health grants established by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which particularly affected rural and underserved districts.
Additional policies addressed ensuring access to opioid pain medication post-discharge, removing “red flag” designations from buprenorphine mono-product to improve access to evidence-based addiction treatment, and supporting medication continuity during insurance transitions.
Looking Ahead
The strength of AAGL’s voice at the AMA depends on continued engagement from practicing gynecologic surgeons who understand modern surgical practice realities. The next Annual Meeting will take place June 5-10, 2026, in Chicago, and the Interim Meeting will be held November 6-10, 2026, in Orlando, Florida.
We encourage AAGL members who are also AMA members to engage with your state medical societies and consider participation in the House of Delegates process. As demonstrated at these 2025 meetings, when specialty societies work together with unified voice, we can effectively advocate for our patients and profession.
For more information about AMA policies and advocacy efforts, visit www.ama-assn.org or use the AMA Policy Finder at policysearch.ama-assn.org. Please contact me with questions or concerns about AMA representation on behalf of AAGL.
