Lauren and Darryl unpack one of the more consequential conversations AMGA has had in recent memory: CMMI Director Abe Sutton's meeting with AMGA's Board of Directors. Darryl breaks down Sutton's priorities — a push for downside risk, longer and more stable model designs like the new LEAD model, and a genuine interest in using AI as a workforce extender in the face of a looming clinician shortage. Lauren draws the comparison to Adam Boehler's tenure and asks what's really different this time. The bottom line: Sutton heard AMGA's years of feedback on predictability and stability, and he said so directly. Now it's on AMGA and its members to show up, share what's working, and help shape what comes next — because as Lauren puts it, Sutton appears to be “willing and able” to do exactly that.

Lauren and Darryl are co-piloting this week’s Filibusters and Fine Print, where they discuss Congress’s continued focus on healthcare affordability and the likelihood of a major healthcare payment stability package passing this year. The flight includes stops at the AMGA Annual Conference in Vegas, the famed Ways and Means Committee room in DC, and visits to our friends in the Energy and Commerce Committee and the GOP and Dem DOC Caucus. Expect some turbulence on the landing, some old legislative baggage to resurface, and some government interference. We hope you'll fly with us again soon.

Affordability reform is coming but will Congress support positive policy reforms or undermine it? In this episode, we examine the latest congressional hearing on provider-driven health care costs through an AMGA lens. As policymakers scrutinize pricing, consolidation, and payment differences, we explore how these debates intersect with AMGA’s core legislative and regulatory priorities.

The AMGA Public Policy Team unpacks the growing focus in Washington, DC on combating waste, fraud, and abuse in federal healthcare programs. The discussion explores recent actions from the Trump Administration, ongoing congressional investigations, and a high-profile House hearing examining the role of CMS in safeguarding Medicare and Medicaid.

The clinician shortage is hardly easy as pie and in this week's episode, the AMGA policy team unpacks why fixing it is even harder than it looks. The conversation connects two federal issues: the House Ways and Means Committee's recent hearing on the next generation of America's healthcare workforce and proposed federal student loan caps under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that could make medical education harder to finance. From GME funding and rural training gaps to the Department of Education's narrow definition of "professional degree," the team explores how federal policy shapes the healthcare workforce pipeline and what AMGA is doing about it.

In this week’s episode, the AMGA policy team break down our recently sent letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and share what Dr. Oz said during Health Care Value Week. The conversation covers the real cost of prior authorization burdens, why automated patient portal notifications are causing harm, and why Congress must act to make pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities permanent. The team also digs into the long-term decline in inflation-adjusted physician payment, the case for eliminating the outdated Medicare skilled nursing facility three-day rule, and what recent CMS moves could mean for the future of Advanced APMs and coordinated care. Hear what the administration is saying and where AMGA is pushing back.

The Trump Administration and Congress are interested in deploying artificial intelligence to improve health care. But what does that mean for providers and patients? The AMGA team turns the podcast over to Claudi.ai to outline our discussion on HHS policy, congressional action, and how providers are deploying AI.

Congress is concerned about affordability in healthcare and is looking at how administrative and regulatory complexity is contributing to higher costs. The AMGA team discussed two recent hearings on how payment instability and burdens such as prior authorization contribute to physician burnout. After the policy trio welcomes a surprise guest, they turned their attention to congressional interest in pharmacy benefit managers and where Congress might turn its attention to next.