ACLM Advocacy Update February 2025

As a new administration takes office, ACLM is closely monitoring the evolving policy landscape and opportunities to advance lifestyle medicine. Explore our key priorities and recent advocacy efforts to shape policies that support a healthier future.

Political Climate—by Bob Siggins, Alston & Bird

The 4th quarter, of course, witnessed the election of a new and very different President and Administration from those we have witnessed in recent history, presenting both threats and opportunities for ACLM as we closely track the arrival of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement. The increased focus on addressing the root causes of the epidemic of chronic disease that has been enveloping our country over the last half century is long overdue and should very much play to our strengths. It will be our job, though, to make sure those in positions of authority in this Administration recognize the big role the healthcare system and properly trained physicians and allied health professionals can play in helping to address this crisis.

Secretary Designate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and many of his adherents have focused heavily on issues related to the food system that have driven a dramatic increase in the amount of ultra-processed foods in our diet, and correctly so, as well as other issues related to food labeling and ingredients. All of those issues are important pieces of the puzzle, as is changing our medical education system to produce a workforce trained to address the chronic conditions that are rampant in this country and developing and testing payment models that reward them for doing so. That will be the message ACLM will be driving along with allied stakeholders as we work with this new Administration.

We have already seen for the formation of new MAHA caucuses in both the House and Senate, in each case led by physicians we think will be aligned with our message in these and other areas.

First up for the new Administration will be extending government funding, which is scheduled to expire on March 14th. This will also present an opportunity for Congress to address the 2.8% payment cut to the conversion factor in the 2025 physician fee schedule (PFS), as well as to extend the telehealth regulatory relief that has become so vital to many of the care delivery models so many of our members employ, as well as to their patients. We will be tracking both of those issues and many others very carefully through this process.

Once Congress is able to clear the decks on the spending bill, and the new Administration is able to get its nominees in place at the Department of Health and Human Services and its agencies, including CMS and FDA, where nominees Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Marty Makary have some significant alignment with the ACLM approach, we look forward to looking for opportunities where we can find common ground and work with them to truly make America healthy again. At the same time, we do recognize there will be areas where their approach goes in directions ACLM and its members will find questionable, and we will be careful to distinguish between those policies they pursue and which ACLM supports and those we do not.

Preparation for New Administration and Congress

• ACLM developed background documents to share with the new Administration and Congress, identified new Committees of Jurisdiction, caucus and other Congressional champions, and made introductory contacts with expected department leaders.
• These include our Policy Priorities 2025 document.

Responses to Requests for Information (RFIs)

• To House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith and Health Subcommittee Chairman Vern Buchanan in response to the hearing “Investing in a Healthier America: The critical role preventive medicine and healthy living play in combatting chronic disease and the growing obesity epidemic”
• To Senate Finance Committee on proposed legislative improvements to Graduate Medical Education, including suggested language for inclusion of lifestyle medicine in the bill and a request for a GAO report on GME

Sign-on Letters

Facilitated ACLM sign on to the following originated by other organizations:

• Food is Medicine Institute’s letter to leadership of the Senate and House subcommittees on Labor, Health, and Human Services regarding the FY 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill to request that the subcommittee provide robust funding and include language to better integrate nutrition into our healthcare system.
• The American Medical Association’s letter to House and Senate leadership urging Congress to include provisions addressing the latest round of Medicare physician payment cuts. More specifically, the letter highlights and critiques Congress for not stopping the cuts in the American Relief Act, which was enacted in December 2024, as well as urges the House and Senate to include the recently introduced Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act in the forthcoming March 2025 government funding bill.

Key Meetings

• Met with Sen. Michael Bennet staff (D-CO) as a follow-up to ACLM’s summer comments on GME RFI
• Met with Rachel Ferencik of the CDC Foundation as a follow-up on progress of White House Conference commitment and introduction to Nutrition in Pregnancy Provider Education Workgroup
• Met with Dr. Anthony Pick as follow-up to Illinois district town hall on type 2 diabetes
• Supported preparation for military readiness meetings with Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA)
• Supported preparation for meeting with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) staff
• Participated in the planning committee for Food is Medicine Institute’s planned Advocacy Day scheduled for March 13, 2025.