ACP advocates for you on policy changes that will make a difference in your daily work, your professional development, and your patients’ health. We work across the aisle using our evidence-based policy papers; grassroots activities; work with congressional leaders, key agencies, and regulators; and through collaborations with other organizations.   
   
ACP’s 2026 advocacy priorities focus on advancing federal legislative, regulatory, and executive actions that strengthen patient care and support internal medicine physicians. Top priorities include: 

• Protecting patient access to immunizations
• Ensuring affordable, accessible health care
• Strengthening the internal medicine physician workforce
• Improving payment for internal medicine physicians

• Helped increase internal medicine payment rates, supported physicians and trainees, and upheld patient care standards.
• ACP advocacy helped increase internal medicine payment rates overall and create a new efficiency adjustment, reflected in the 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.
• Protected Medicare beneficiaries’ access to their physicians through preserving access to telehealth with an extension to COVID-era flexibilities.
• Succeeded in getting Congress to move forward with studying accuracy of CMS utilization estimates that would lead to funds being restored to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.  
• Communicated concerns to CMS about a new prior authorization model that incorporates AI in the process and potential unintended consequences.   
• Urged protection of medical trainees’ access to student loans, issuing a comment letter opposing the elimination of the Graduate PLUS Loan program and the imposition of new federal borrowing caps.  
• Called for protection of international physicians and trainees to ensure that they are exempted from immigration policy changes.

• William E. Fox, MD, MACP, Chair Emeritus, Board of Regents, American College of Physicians, testified at a congressional hearing about physician payment on May 20.   
• In 2025, ACP advocated for state and federal legislation, along with federal rulemaking, to support internal medicine physicians, improve the health and well-being of patients, and work to empower state chapters with personalized advocacy tools.  
• ACP continues to advocate for internal medicine physicians to Congress and the administration. Over the past year, the Advocates for Internal Medicine Network facilitated more than 10,700 messages to lawmakers calling for them to protect medical student access to federal student loan programs, fix Medicare physician payment, protect access to vaccines, and support international medical graduates, among other issues.
• More than 430 ACP members participated in ACP’s Leadership Day in Washington, DC, and participated in 444 congressional meetings to bring visibility to key issues.