Physicians have until Sept. 1 to verify info for 2025 APM bonus payments

Physicians who participated in an Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) for the 2023 performance year/2025 payment year and have yet to receive their payments are advised to check the 2025 QP Notice for APM Incentive Payment zip file and look for their name to see if they need to verify and update their Medicare billing information by submitting a 2025 Billing Information Collection Form (which can also be found in the zip file, along with instructions). Failure to verify Medicare billing information by the September 1, 2025 deadline will result in the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) not being able to issue an APM Incentive Payment. More...

Physicians sue RFK Jr. over dangerous rollback of COVID-19 vaccine guidance

The California Medical Association (CMA) is closely following a new federal lawsuit filed against U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who in May issued a directive ending federal recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination in healthy children and pregnant people—a move widely condemned by the medical and scientific communities.



The lawsuit, brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics and joined by several prominent public health and medical organizations, asserts that Kennedy acted unlawfully by bypassing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its independent vaccine advisory body, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). More...

CMA supports bipartisan PBM reform legislation

Last week bipartisan legislation was introduced in Congress that seeks to bring long-overdue transparency and accountability to the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry. HR 4317, the “Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) Reform Act of 2025,” introduced by Representatives Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) along with California Representatives Lou Correa, Ro Khanna and Derek Tran, will help to ensure medications are affordable for patients and guided by physician medical decision-making, not opaque corporate PBM negotiations. More...

CMA defends key safeguard against corporate interference in medicine

The California Medical Association (CMA) has filed an amicus brief in a case that could have broad implications for the legal protections that preserve physician independence in California, specifically the state’s prohibition on the corporate practice of medicine.

While the lawsuit, Eli Lilly & Company v. Mochi Health Corp., et al. (Case No. 3:25-cv-03534-JSC), involves allegations of unlawful compounding and distribution of prescription medications, CMA’s interest in the case is to ensure that California’s corporate bar is not mischaracterized or prematurely dismissed on procedural grounds. More...

Need help reviewing a contract? CMA members get exclusive discounted services

What You Need to Know: CMA members have access to exclusive discounts on professional contract review services to help evaluate, negotiate and protect their physician agreements.

California Medical Association (CMA) members have access to two valuable member benefits that provide legal analysis of physician contracts – such as employment agreements, managed care contracts, hospital recruitment contracts and more – at reduced rates. More...

Latest ACIP move is dangerous to the nation’s health



What’s the news: The influential Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) work groups will no longer include the expertise of volunteer liaisons from the AMA and many other physician and health care organizations. About 30 organizations have traditionally provided these medical experts to aid the committee’s review process and provide recommendations on immunization through ACIP work groups. 

The administration claimed to be addressing purported conflicts of interest at ACIP, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). More...

Slashing NIH funding imperils the foundation of medical research

It’s not hyperbole to say my sudden brain cancer diagnosis last fall could have put a swift end to my medical career—and it certainly would have prevented me from taking the oath of office to become AMA president in June—were it not for incredible advancements in biomedical research and medical treatments tied to the pioneering science developed with the help of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

And progress like this, not just for me but for millions of people who’ve experienced a health crisis, is made possible thanks to considerable financial investment by our federal government into public health institutions like the NIH and the leading research universities and medical centers with which it partners.

The proposed 40% cut in the NIH’s research budget for 2026 will not only harm patients facing serious and even life-threatening diagnoses today and into the future, it further erodes our nation’s global leadership in biomedical research and discovery. We must not abandon medical progress and needlessly endanger the health of millions whose illnesses could have been treated had we stayed on course. More...

More doctors feel supported by health organization leaders

Leadership in health care doesn’t just shape organizational strategy—it directly influences the well-being of the physician workforce. And medicine appears to be seeing a notable shift in how physicians perceive their leaders, according to the results of an exclusive AMA survey. This shows that trust in health care leadership is on the rise, with more doctors reporting that they feel supported, valued and empowered by those at the helm. 

Nearly 18,000 responses from physicians across 43 states were received from more than 100 health systems and organizations who participated in the AMA Organizational Biopsy® last year. The AMA national physician comparison report—which is exclusive data to the AMA that is not published anywhere else—reflects 2024 trends on six key performance indicators—job satisfaction, job stress, burnout, intent to leave an organization, feeling valued by an organization and total hours spent per week on work-related activities (known as “time spend”). More...

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