Capitol Hill Report: AAN president highlights advocacy
April 7, 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
The AAN Annual Meeting in San Diego opened this past weekend with a powerful message during the Presidential Plenary: Advocacy in Action, where AAN President Carlayne E. Jackson, MD, FAAN, highlighted the indispensable role of advocacy in neurology. Dr. Jackson and the panelists who joined her called attention to urgent policy challenges such as ongoing utilization management and burdensome prior authorization requirements—issues that not only affect access to care but also contribute significantly to physician burnout. She and a panel of member advocates offered a compelling vision of advocacy as a form of wellness, reframing it as both a solution to administrative fatigue and a proactive tool to promote health equity. Dr. Jackson’s address also celebrated the tangible impact of grassroots mobilization, spotlighting state-level wins and the progress made by AAN members nationwide, particularly through the and specific action alerts.
Following the plenary session, hundreds of attendees arrived at the Practice and Policy Hub for a full day of superhero-themed advocacy programming. From a panel on incorporating advocacy into full-time neurology work, to getting started as a trainee, to talking to policymakers, attendees had many tools to add to their toolkit for making change.
The day wouldn’t be complete without the Superpower Behind BrainPAC session, as well as how to effectively evaluate and propose new policy that can make a real difference in patients' and medical teams' lives. Each of these workshops made one thing clear: there are many ways to get involved in advocacy and make change, and each voice matters. Whether it’s applying for the Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum, meeting with your members of Congress during their time at home in your state with Neurology Off the Hill, heading to DC for Neurology on the Hill, or working with your state society, the AAN is your resource for getting involved. You can learn more through our newest program: the Political Outreach for Neurological Support (PONS) network, which helps you engage in advocacy 365 days a year and features quarterly webinars to keep fine-tuning your advocacy skills. Sign up now—and if you’re at the Annual Meeting in San Diego, stop by the BrainPAC booth or the Practice and Policy Hub.
By leveraging the tools and insights gained from Dr. Jackson's Presidential lecture and the advocacy workshops, you can make a significant impact on policy changes that affect your field. Your voice matters, and together, we can drive meaningful change. This is the perfect opportunity to and connect with your representatives at the federal and state level regarding prior authorization reform.
Latest advocacy news
Senate confirms Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
On April 3, the Senate voted 53-45 to confirm Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The AAN works closely with CMS on a number of key advocacy priorities and will send a letter introducing the AAN and our priorities, such as physician payment and reducing administrative burdens. We will continue to work to grow productive relationships with key leaders at CMS.
AAN sends letter requesting NIH rescind indirect cost policy
The AAN sent a letter late last month to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya requesting that the NIH rescind its proposed policy imposing a 15% cap on indirect cost recovery for NIH grants. In the letter, we encourage Dr. Bhattacharya to work with the AAN and other stakeholders to find a solution that balances transparency, efficiency, and sustainability.
AAN urges Secretary of Health and Human Services to reverse staffing cuts
The AAN joined over 30 other organizations last week to urge the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to reverse cuts to staffing at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute on Aging. The letter also urged Kennedy to work across the National Institutes of Health to restore halted study sections and Advisory Council meetings. In response to our advocacy, the winter Advisory Council meetings at both NIA and NINDS have been rescheduled.
AAN sends letter supporting the Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act
The AAN led a coalition of 45 organizations late last month in sending a letter in support of the Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act (H.R.1585/S.709). The AAN has been a longtime supporter of this legislation supporting the Conrad 30 program and international medical graduates, and we continue to lead efforts on Capitol Hill to advance it. This bill, introduced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Reps. David Valadao (R-CA), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) would reauthorize and expand the Conrad 30 program and make several targeted policy improvements.
AAN updates position statement on opioids 
The AAN to reflect current policy needs and advocate for research into non-opioid alternatives to treat pain, the need for use of electronic prescribing of controlled substances and state prescription monitoring programs to improve safety of opioid prescribing, and the value of science-based standardized resources for prescribers, pharmacists, and patients to make safe and informed medication decisions.
Comment letters
The AAN frequently provides policymakers with written comments on key priorities. Read our recent comments.
What we're reading
- Montana Examines Ways to Ease Health Care Workforce Shortages ()
- Targeting FDA user fees would leave agency gutted, experts say ()
- Fearing Trump cuts, California Democrat proposes creating state’s own NIH ()