All Eyes on Washington and All Voices Speaking Up to Protect Access to Care

Just 16 days from now, more than 1,000 hospital and health system leaders from across the country will arrive in Washington, D.C., for the 2025 AHA Annual Membership Meeting. 

Every year, this important gathering puts specific issues into focus as we discuss the best ways to fulfill our mission of advancing health. This year, it’s an understatement to say the stakes are extremely high as Congress is in the middle of considering legislation that could significantly jeopardize access to patient care across the country and further challenge hospitals’ ability to deliver the care and services that our nation depends on. 

To help our members navigate the shifting landscape and dynamics on Capitol Hill, we’ve built a program highlighted by nationally recognized speakers who are influential in the administration and Congress, as well as special forums that bring together strategic ideas and relevant research with thought leaders driving policy on the biggest issues affecting our field.

On the House side, we’ll hear from lawmakers who serve on the important Energy and Commerce Committee, including Reps. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., who chairs its Subcommittee on Health; Robin Kelly, D-Ill., who likewise serves on the Subcommittee on Health and is a member of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which sets the policy direction of the Democratic Caucus; and Kim Schrier, D-Wash., who is the first pediatrician elected to Congress. Energy and Commerce is the all-important committee where the focus will be on major Medicaid cuts. We’ll also hear from Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and tax policies, and Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb. Moran and Flood are respectively executive board member and vice chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus, a solutions-focused group of 80-plus conservative members. Also joining us is Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., chair of the New Democratic Coalition, the largest Democratic caucus in the House and focused on pro-economic growth and fiscal responsibility. On the Senate side, we’ll hear from Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., as well as a panel with two key freshman senators: Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Jon Husted, R-Ohio.

In addition, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Chief of Staff and Deputy Administrator Stephanie Carlton and CMS Deputy Administrator and Chief Policy and Regulatory Officer John Brooks will join us for a special conversation about the agency’s health priorities.

We’ll also gain insights from a number of advisers to President Donald Trump, such as Kellyanne Conway, former senior counselor to President Trump, who will discuss “Shifting Voices: Changes in Political Communications,” and Chris LaCivita, senior adviser and co-campaign manager of the Trump 2024 Presidential Campaign. We’ll do a deep dive into economic issues, including the impact of tariffs, with Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, who will lead a discussion on “Decoding the Fiscal Cliff: Economic & Fiscal Policy Outlook”  with panelists Rana Foroohar, CNN’s global economic analyst, Lanhee Chen, a Hoover Institution Fellow in American public policy studies and former advisor to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, and Jason Furman, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama.

We’ll hear from people making and breaking news, as well as providing insight on “Navigating the New Political Landscape,” a discussion featuring Jonathan Martin, politics bureau chief at Politico, Leigh Ann Caldwell, chief Washington correspondent  for Puck News, and Jake Sherman, co-founder of Punchbowl News.  We’ll have insightful conversations with Hoda Kotb, former “Today Show” co-anchor, who will participate in the AHA’s luncheon recognizing award-winning leaders in our field. Interested attendees can join Eugene Daniels, senior Washington correspondent for MSNBC and president of the White House Correspondents Association, for a Government Relations Officers Network Lunch. And we’re pleased to be joined by retired four-star Gen. Stanley McCrystal, who wrote about his leadership experience in Iraq in 2004 in “Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex Field.”

Throughout the conference, we have dynamic sessions featuring top leaders in our field and in the administration discussing post-acute care, rural health care and governance, just to name a few. It’s a very full agenda, but we’ve also built in time for you to connect with colleagues from across the country and have those personal connections that we know are so valuable.

The Annual Membership Meeting comes at a critical time as key congressional committees, including the House Energy and Commerce Committee, could begin marking up reconciliation legislation with the potential for significant cuts to the Medicaid program.

The timing provides a great opportunity for your visit to Capitol Hill to drive home several key messages. Those include protecting access to care by rejecting cuts to Medicaid, additional so-called site-neutral payments and harmful changes to the 340B program. At the same time, we need to extend the enhanced premium tax credits that help millions of Americans have access to affordable private insurance. We also will talk about ways to provide relief from burdensome regulations and policies that inhibit care and increase costs, as well as opportunities to strengthen and support the health care workforce.

Earlier this week, we shared an Advocacy Action Alert asking hospital leaders to meet with their senators and representatives to explain to them how cuts to Medicaid and other programs would reduce access to care and services for patients in their communities. We also provided new infographics and resources to support your advocacy efforts.

We’ll continue to keep the field updated on the latest from Capitol Hill, and the Annual Membership Meeting will be another opportunity for us to stand up and speak out to protect access to the care that hospitals and health systems provide across America.

If you haven’t registered yet, please consider joining us in Washington May 4-6. And if you can’t be in Washington, please continue delivering that message to your representatives and senators throughout the year.

In the words of AHA’s 2025 Board Chair, Tina Freese Decker, “When we work together, we speak with a voice that is loud, clear and effective. Because we are here to care for the neighbors in our communities no matter what headwinds we face.”