Capitol Hill Report: AAN member highlight
June 23, 2025
We want to make sure you know we have your back. We’re actively responding, relentlessly pushing forward, and ensuring your voice is heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill. Please keep reading Capitol Hill Report—and tell your colleagues—for a rundown of how your AAN is in overdrive advocating on your behalf. We’re analyzing and monitoring all changes made by Congress and the administration to evaluate any impacts on neurology and the patients we serve. If your practice, research, or patients have been impacted by recent changes at the federal or state level, please let us know by emailing advocacy@aan.com.
Issue in focus
Aileen Antonio, MD, FAAN, a member of the BrainPAC Executive Committee, recently attended the annual Physician & Dentist PAC (MADPAC) Forum, a collaborative conference where political action committee (PAC) leaders and managers from across the medical and dental communities convene to discuss fundraising strategies, share best practices, and strengthen their programs. The forum offers a behind-the-scenes look at how physician PACs drive engagement and provides a valuable space for exchanging ideas to boost support both internally among members and externally on Capitol Hill.
Antonio brought the neurologist perspective to these conversations, reinforcing BrainPAC’s commitment to being an effective advocate for the specialty while gaining valuable insights into the nuances of PAC management from peers. During the conference, she had the opportunity to highlight our success with the presidential plenary from the 2025 Annual Meeting, where Past President Carlayne E. Jackson, MD, FAAN, spoke on the importance of advocacy.
As BrainPAC continues to evolve in how we engage members and demonstrate value, participation in forums like MADPAC helps ensure we stay aligned with broader trends in medicine, positioning the AAN for long-term advocacy success and deeper relationships on Capitol Hill.
Learn more about how you can get involved with BrainPAC.
Latest advocacy news
AAN joins letter urging improvements to reconciliation bill
The AAN joined a letter this month urging the Senate to make improvements to the reconciliation bill by addressing 2025 payment cuts and aligning them with full annual Medicare Economic Index (MEI) inflationary updates. Other improvements called for in the letter include maintaining the Grad PLUS program, allowing access to unsubsidized direct borrowing for medical and dental students, protecting access to Medicaid for those who are unable to obtain traditional health insurance, and eliminating provisions that will increase the number of uninsured patients.
AAN joins letter on CDC immunization advisory committee dismissals
The AAN also recently joined a letter from the American Medical Association (AMA) discussing concerns on vaccine hesitancy and calling on Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Sec. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to reinstate dismissed members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
State advocacy win: Arizona law ensures prior authorizations reviewed by licensed medical professionals
AAN-supported legislation, , was signed into law early this month by Governor Katie Hobbs, making Arizona one of the first states to prohibit medical insurers from using artificial intelligence (AI) as the final decision maker in medical necessity and prior authorization determinations. The law will ensure decisions requiring clinical judgment are made by licensed medical professionals with appropriate training. As states increasingly examine the use of AI in care, this issue around prior authorization determinations is expected to gain significant momentum in the remainder of the 2025 sessions and beyond.
AMA House of Delegates adopts resolutions on key issues
The American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates convened in Chicago this month to deliberate on key issues. As the legislative and policy-making body of the AMA, the House addressed a range of pressing concerns, including ongoing physician fee schedule reductions, worsening delays related to prior authorization requirements, Medicaid funding cuts, and calls for the AMA to publicly oppose recent actions by the administration. Adopted resolutions relevant to neurology include:
- Safeguarding Neural Data Collected by Neurotechnologies, directing the AMA to support legislative and regulatory efforts to protect the privacy and security of individuals' neurological data
- Sleep Deprivation as a Public Health Crisis, directing the AMA to declare sleep deprivation a public health crisis in the US, to declare sleep health a public health priority, and to support efforts to increase research into the various drivers of sleep deprivation, poor sleep quality, and shortened sleep duration
- Preservation of the Department of Health and Human Services Workforce and Infrastructure, directing the AMA to support efforts to prioritize sustained funding and staffing for programs that promote ongoing public health
- Urgent Advocacy to Restore J-1 Visa Processing for International Medical Graduate Physicians, directing the AMA to advocate for the resumption of J-1 visa appointments
AAN responds to request for information on health technology
The AAN submitted a response to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) request for information on improving health technology for beneficiaries, interoperability, and reducing administrative burdens. The response discusses challenges that rural practitioners face, administrative requirements that slow clinical workflows, data formats, the cost of interoperable technologies, and ways that CMS can effectively simplify data responsibilities.
What we're reading
- Visa delays threaten July 1 start for incoming medical residents in Alabama: op-ed ()
- Judge deems Trump’s National Institutes of Health grant cuts illegal ()
- Tariffs drive some health plans to hike premiums ()