August 2025 Advocacy Rounds

Transcript

David Tully: Congress has left town for August recess, but it's still a busy time in Washington. It's time to recap the big and little ways the AAFP advocated in August for policies that impact you, your patients and your community.

Welcome to Fighting for Family Medicine. I'm David Tully, vice President of Government Relations and a member of the AAFP's advocacy team. Today, I'm going to sum up the ways the AAFP advocated for family medicine during the month of August.

Key takeaways from the AAFP’s summary of the 2026 Medicare physician fee schedule proposed rule

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is proposing updates to the 2026 Medicare physician fee schedule, and I want to highlight some of the positive steps for primary care.

Key takeaways from the AAFP’s summary indicate that CMS is taking concrete steps to update how services are valued to better reflect today's practice environment, increase flexibility for patient-centered and home-based care and strengthen support for behavioral health through improved coding. CMS is also proposing a bump to the Medicare conversion factor, a 3.8% increase for physicians enrolled in advanced APMs, and a 3.6% increase for others.

But keep in mind, a significant portion of those increases are temporary. Without a permanent fix, practices could be hit with another cut in 2027.

Here's the bottom line: While we're pleased with the proposed rule, the AAFP is still urging Congress to put a permanent annual inflationary adjustment in place so you can continue providing high-quality care to your patients. You can read more about our full summary in today's show notes.

The Academy’s latest advocacy to curtail Medicare Advantage plans’ administrative burden

Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are becoming a growing share of our payer mix. About 18% of family medicine patients are enrolled in that, according to the AAFP's latest practice survey. However, MA plans often result in excessive administrative burden for physicians. Family physicians report tedious prior authorization policies, burdensome step-therapy practices that delay access to care, and less time spent with patients.

The AAFP has asked Congress to pass the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, which would streamline prior authorizations and MA plans, put guardrails on step therapy so patients aren't waiting on needed treatments and make plans accountable for supporting high-quality primary care. You can read our full letter to Congress in the show notes.

Our August recess messaging to Congress, and how you can add your voice

The AAFP advocacy team is still excited about the turnout from June's Family Medicine Advocacy Summit, where more than 300 family physicians from 44 states advocated for policies to improve family medicine and access to care. We're keeping the pressure on lawmakers during the August recess.

This month, we're calling on Congress to make telehealth flexibilities permanent, especially for rural underserved patients. These flexibilities expire on September 30. Second, we're calling on Congress to invest in the primary care workforce by fully funding the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program, the National Health Service Corps and the Community Health Center Fund, all set to expire this fall. These essential programs help train and keep primary care physicians in areas that need them the most.

And we're advocating to protect funding for behavioral health and primary care research, which face potential cuts in the federal budget negotiation process.

Joining the AAFP’s Advocacy Ambassadors is an easy way to amplify the Academy’s advocacy

This is another reminder that no one is a stronger advocate for better health policy than family physicians like you. You know firsthand how healthcare really affects patient lives, and you're uniquely positioned to share these stories with policymakers. Your voice truly matters, and the AAFP is a powerful way for you to get involved.

We encourage you to join our Advocacy Ambassador program. It connects family physicians with supportive members of Congress to champion legislation that matters to our specialty.

As an ambassador, you'll build real relationships with lawmakers, get access to advocacy training and grow your impact on the ground. Click more on our show notes below to get started with our program. Your story can help shape the future of family medicine.

Academy reacts to HHS’ decision to stop funding mRNA vaccines

You've likely heard the news about the decision from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pull funding for mRNA vaccines. Sustained research funding is essential to developing the next generation of tools that protect Americans from infectious disease. Thanks to decades of rigorous science, testing and monitoring systems, mRNA vaccines used in the US continue to be safe, effective and save lives. The AAFP, alongside the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Osteopathic Association, issued a joint statement expressing alarm and dismay at HHS’ decision to pull funding.

We remain resolute in our support for investments in public health research and programs that prevent disease.

AAFP calls on CMS to support the Rural Health Transformation Task Force

We know that access to primary care is one of the most powerful tools we have to prevent chronic disease. Lower health care costs can keep people healthy. For rural communities, that access is increasingly at risk. Fewer physicians, fewer resources and greater distances between patients and care make your job harder, but also more critical.

That's why the AAFP is urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to support the Rural Health Transformation Task Force. In a recent letter, the AAFP asked CMS to strengthen its investments in primary care, not just as a service but as a strategy for fostering healthier rural communities. We are pushing for smarter, tech-enabled care models that actually meet patients where they are, and for real investments that help recruit and keep family physicians in rural areas. You can read our full letter in the show notes below.

Recent AAFP regulatory wins

Let's shift gears and discuss a few regulatory wins for family physicians.

First, the 2025 Inpatient Perspective Payment System rule includes some good news for rural family medicine. CMS is keeping extra support in place for small rural hospitals, at least through the next year, and has signaled that it's open to fixing a payment gap that makes it tough for these hospitals to train residents.

We also backed updates and improved data-sharing and technology use. And in the Team ACO model. CMS is reducing risk and improving benchmarks for rural safety-net hospitals, plus tightening discharge planning to make sure patients get back to their primary care docs.

Additionally, the AAFP weighed in on the final health IT certification role, successfully protecting access to patients’ medication histories, and we convinced the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) to slow down on mandatory electronic prior auth so that systems can work in real-life practices. We'll also see a phased rollout of e-prescribing updates to come. You can read both of our letters in the show notes below.

Conclusion

Thanks for joining us today. You can find out what the AAFP is doing to advocate for you, your patients and your practices, and how you can get involved, by visiting our website at Request Rejected . Be sure to check out the show notes below for more links to our advocacy efforts. If you've enjoyed today's episode, let us know by dropping a line to aafpnews@aafp.org.

Be sure to share this episode with your followers on social media and tag the AAFP. We will talk to you soon.