ACOG at the AMA House of Delegates Annual Meeting

This week, physicians from across the nation convened virtually at the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD) to determine AMA policy on issues impacting physician practice and health care access, delivery, and outcomes. ACOG's 14-member delegation, led by Drs. Nita Kulkarni (MI) and Diana Ramos (CA), has become a powerful and respected voice at the AMA, bringing a perspective on women's health to important discussions.

ACOG’s hard-working AMA delegation achieved major gains during the meeting, including securing AMA support for ACOG priorities including:

• Continued advocacy within the the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to afford medical practices additional compliance flexibilities on implementation of recent information block regulations, and urge broadening the definition of harm to include mental and emotional distress
• Opposition to criminal bans on gender affirming-care, which ACOG has led on in the states this session
• Expanded access to treatment for those with substance use disorder in multiple settings, including incarceration settings
• Breaking down stigma against physicians with SUD, including those who have chosen medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) to address SUD
• Instituting robust values and benchmarks to address systemic racism, bias, and microaggressions in medicine, in line with ACOG's Collective Action Addressing Racism
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• Advocacy to address social determinants of health, including food insecurity and access to healthy affordable food options
• Promoting accountability of health plans’ prior authorization policies
• Supporting ongoing efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including combatting misinformation about and improving access to vaccines, and building public health infrastructure to respond to future pandemics

ACOG's size and strength in the AMA HOD is determined by the number of our members who are also members of the AMA. Want women's health and our specialty to have an even bigger impact in AMA policy? Join the AMA today, and designate your ob-gyn specialty.