Dive Brief:
- The American Medical Association has appointed its 181st president: Dr. Willie Underwood, a New York-based surgeon who was sworn in during the prominent physician lobby’s annual meeting this week.
- Underwood will be the second urologist and third Black physician to serve as the AMA’s president.
- Dr. Sandra Fryhofer also won the office of president-elect on Tuesday. She will be inaugurated as AMA president next June after serving as president-elect for a year.
Dive Insight:
Underwood is replacing the AMA’s previous president Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, who assumed the role last year.
In his inauguration speech, Underwood said he would focus on uniting physicians across specialties and closing care gaps.
He also called out the growing healthcare affordability crisis and physician burnout as key issues facing the AMA.
“Families are struggling to access basic care. Communities are losing physicians faster than they can replace them. Patients are delaying treatment until illness becomes a crisis simply because they cannot afford it. And far too many physicians are burned out by a system that demands more while giving us less,” Underwood said.
The current system is “not sustainable,” he said. Yet, “there is growing pressure to avoid difficult conversations about gaps in care, unequal outcomes and the barriers too many patients face.”
Health equity has been a contentious subject during the second Trump administration. The government has dismantled diversity, equity and inclusion mandates, cut funding for equity initiatives and research, and scrubbed equity data from federal websites and Medicare plans’ quality ratings.
Some researchers have raised concerns that the U.S. might lose any progress gained on closing persistent health disparities. In April, a report from the research foundation the Commonwealth Fund found that racial and ethnic health disparities persisted across all 50 states, even before the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to health programs like Medicaid.
The American Medical Association has kicked its lobbying machine into high gear during the second Trump administration as it advocates for reforming Medicare physician pay, reducing prior authorization policies and maintaining care access as funding for health programs is cut.
Last year, the AMA spent $23.8 million on lobbying, according to federal records. That amount was slightly less than the $24.8 million the group spent in 2024 — a record high, according to records dating back to 1998.
