The Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association (PALTmed, CALTCM’s national affiliate) was well represented at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association House of Delegates, held June 6–9 in Chicago. I had the honor of serving with Dr. Leslie Eber, current PALTmed president, as our delegates. This year marked an important milestone for the organization: after several years with one delegate and one alternate delegate, PALTmed was granted two voting delegate seats for 2026. 

The meeting was highly substantive, with considerable attention devoted to augmented/artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine, reimbursement, patient access, scientific integrity, and the importance of ensuring that physicians and the public have access to accurate, evidence-based medical information. I was also honored to serve on Reference Committee D, evaluating resolutions and reports on Public Health and related topics.

The House of Delegates adopted a policy emphasizing that health AI systems must be grounded in evidence-based care, transparent in their design and use, and subject to appropriate accountability and human (generally meaning physician) oversight. As these technologies become more integrated into clinical practice, the AMA reaffirmed that AI should support—not replace—physician judgment and patient-centered decision-making. 

The AMA also continued its advocacy around stable, fair, and predictable physician reimbursement. In addition, delegates discussed emergency department boarding and its impact on access to care. This issue is particularly relevant to PALTmed members, who recognize how prolonged boarding can disproportionately affect older adults, medically complex patients, and individuals with functional or cognitive vulnerabilities. 

Scientific integrity and vaccine policy were also prominent themes at the annual HOD meeting. The House adopted Resolution 414, continuing AMA efforts to address changes to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and to pursue appropriate avenues to reverse the 2025-2026 alterations to ACIP’s structure, membership, and operations. The resolution also supports vaccine policy that is scientifically grounded and consistent with the original ACIP charter. In electing Dr. Sandra Fryhofer as president-elect, the House also signaled a desire for strong AMA leadership in responding to anti-science and anti-vaccine actions and rhetoric emerging from Health & Human Services and the current administration. 

Several resolutions were of particular relevance to PALTC: 

1. Resolution 706, introduced by New York, was adopted as amended. It calls on the AMA to educate physicians about Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) policy regarding skilled nursing facilities’ responsibility to prepare and promptly provide comprehensive discharge summaries to patients’ outpatient primary care physicians. The resolution also urges CMS to enforce its existing requirements for timely and complete SNF discharge summaries. This policy is closely aligned with PALTmed Resolution D26, which was adopted as amended by the PALTmed House of Delegates and is scheduled for review by the PALTmed Board of Directors later this June.
   

2. Resolution 225 addressed specialist visits in nursing homes and proposed that a physician, rather than an advanced practice practitioner, see residents at least once every three visits. The resolution did not address whether these specialty visits are medically necessary, an issue PALTmed’s own House of Delegates considered this year in adopting a resolution calling for the development of guidance on this topic. Because this resolution (submitted by Indiana) raised a complex issue that requires additional evaluation and refinement, it was referred to the AMA Board ofTrustees. This was the outcome PALTmed supported, and this resolution was not debated at the Reference Committee or on the floor of the HOD.
   

3. Resolution 231, introduced by the Senior Physicians Section (SPS), of which I am a member (yes, I know it’s hard to believe), addressed immigrants in the long-term care workforce. This resolution states that the AMA should oppose administrative or regulatory actions that worsen staffing shortages or jeopardize access to long-term care when such actions are not accompanied by sufficient workforce supply, training, immigration pathways, and funding support. It also supports immigration policies that protect, retain, and expand the long-term care workforce, including timely work authorization, efficient visa processing, and safeguards against abrupt disruptions affecting immigrant health care workers. Dr. Eber testified powerfully in support of Resolution 231 before Reference Committee B and again on the House floor. Although the Reference Committee had initially recommended reaffirmation rather than adoption, testimony from Dr. Eber and others, including a delegate from the American Geriatrics Society and the authors of the resolution from SPS, was persuasive. The resolution, which is consistent with PALTmed policy, passed with strong support on the House floor and established new AMA policy. 

The House of Delegates also considered several additional issues with relevance to PALTC, including nutrition-related policy, the “Food is Medicine” movement, the health effects of ultra-processed foods, prior authorization, and continued telehealth flexibility. These are ongoing priorities for clinicians caring for older adults and medically complex patients, and additional AMA policy is expected in these areas.  Dr. Eber and I will next attend the AMA’s Interim House of Delegates in Orlando this November.

Drs. Steinberg and Eber cheerfully representing PALTmed at the AMA

PALTmed President Leslie Eber, MD, CMD, addressing the AMA House of Delegates at June’s Annual meeting in Chicago.