George Fouras, M.D., and Anna Yap, M.D., reelected to lead the House of Delegates

Los Angeles psychiatrist George Fouras, M.D., and Sacramento emergency physician Anna Yap, M.D., were reelected speaker and vice speaker of CMA’s House of Delegates at the association’s annual meeting October 17-18, 2026, in Sacramento. Both were first elected to their current roles in 2025 and will continue guiding delegates’ deliberations and policy development. More...

Hesperia physician Eric Hansen, D.O., and San Diego physician Holly Yang, M.D., to lead the CMA Board of Trustees

Hesperia family physician Eric R. Hansen, D.O., has been elected chair of the California Medical Association (CMA) Board of Trustees, after serving as vice chair since 2023. He succeeds San Diego gastroenterologist Sergio R. Flores, M.D., who was elected CMA president-elect.

A CMA member since 2002, Dr. Hansen has held numerous leadership roles in organized medicine. He served as president of the San Bernardino County Medical Society in 2017-18 and has served on the California Medical Association Political Action Committee (CALPAC) Board of Directors and as chair of CMA’s Solo and Small Group Practice Forum. He also serves on CMA’s Governance Technical Advisory Committee and as an alternate delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates. More...

Medi-Cal adds coverage for newly approved mRNA influenza vaccine

Medi-Cal has added coverage for the nation's first mRNA-based influenza vaccine, following its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August 2026.

The vaccine, Moderna's mFLUSIVA, was approved on Aug. 5, 2026, for adults ages 50 and older. It is the first seasonal influenza vaccine to use messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which has previously been used in COVID-19 vaccines. More...

Medi-Cal issues obstetrical billing guidance effective Nov. 1

The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has issued new billing guidance for obstetrical providers in anticipation of changes to maternity care coding that will take effect Jan. 1, 2027.

Beginning Nov. 1, 2026, Medi-Cal encourages obstetrical providers to submit claims for prenatal and postpartum care using evaluation and management (E/M) codes with modifier TH, which identifies obstetrical treatment or services related to prenatal or postpartum care. More...

CMA webinar to help physicians identify leverage in managed care contract negotiations

Understanding the value a physician practice brings to a health plan network is an important part of negotiating favorable managed care contracts. But identifying that value — and translating it into negotiating leverage — requires preparation, data and an understanding of the factors that influence a payor's contracting decisions.



The California Medical Association (CMA) is hosting a free webinar, “Managed Care Contracting Strategies: Identifying Leverage and Building Your Business Case,” on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m., to help physician practices approach contract negotiations more strategically. More...

Physicians adopt policies to address pressing challenges in medicine at CMA’s 155th House of Delegates

The California Medical Association (CMA) convened its 155th annual House of Delegates (HOD) in Sacramento on Oct. 17–18, bringing physician leaders together to debate the issues facing medicine and help guide the association’s advocacy for patients and physicians.

The weekend combined policy deliberations with leadership transitions, recognition of extraordinary service and a shared call to action. From protecting Medi-Cal funding and reforming Medicare physician payment to defending public health, supporting physician practices and developing future leaders, the discussions underscored the reach of organized medicine—and the responsibility physicians share to shape what comes next. More...

Take Action: Year-end opportunity to advance Medicare payment reform in Congress

Medicare physician payment has fallen approximately 33% over the past 25 years when adjusted for inflation, while the cost of providing care continues to rise. The growing financial strain is particularly challenging for small, rural and independent practices, with implications for patients' access to care.

As Congress prepares to return following the November 3 general election, the bipartisan Patients First Act (H.R. 9693) presents an opportunity to advance long-term Medicare physician payment reform before the end of the year. More...

Top news stories from AMA Morning Rounds®: Week of Oct. 26, 2026

Researchers propose new subtype of clinical depression called “circadian depression”

The New York Times (10/23, Caron) reports that in a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers “proposed a new subtype of clinical depression called ‘circadian depression,’ that is estimated to affect about a quarter of the people who have major depressive disorders. And it is not dependent on seasonal changes.” The researchers evaluated “more than 11,000 Australians who had been diagnosed with depression and found that over 2,600 of them, or about one in four, met the criteria for circadian depression.” The category “is not a formal diagnosis but rather a suggested subtype.” 

Ultraprocessed foods appear to rewire children’s brains to crave more junk food

HealthDay (10/23, Thompson) reports ultraprocessed “foods appear to rewire kids’ brains so they crave more junk food,” according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. In the study, researchers “analyzed data from 46 children” of healthy weight “taking part in a long-term study of diabetes and obesity risk.” Researchers “collected MRI scans of each child as they viewed photos” of ultraprocessed foods and gathered data on “diet, body fat percentage, waist circumference and body mass index.” More...

Which educational events do residents find most useful?

When it comes to surgical residency training, resident physicians and faculty agree that the most important and the most effective nonclinical education activity is the morbidity and mortality conference (M&M), according to a recent publication in JAMA Surgery.

For the study, “Faculty and Resident Perceptions of Learning Activities During Surgery Residency,” researchers surveyed faculty and residents from 15 general surgery residency programs. The physicians were asked to evaluate the effectiveness and the importance of 19 different nonclinical educational activities on a five-point scale, from “not important” or “not effective” to “extremely important” or “extremely effective.” Their answers were collected anonymously, and of the survey responses, 52.6% came from faculty, 27.5% came from junior residents and 19.9% came from senior residents. More...

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