DARIEN, IL — Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sunshine Protection Act (H.R. 139) with a vote of 308 to 117. The legislation was first advanced through the House Energy and Commerce Committee as part of an amendment to an unrelated transportation bill, and then it was approved by the House Rules Committee with a closed rule, allowing for no amendments and only one hour of debate.

“On Tuesday, the U.S. House ignored the overwhelming evidence supporting the health and safety benefits of permanent standard time and instead chose to force dark, dangerous mornings on millions of Americans who will suffer the effects,” said Dr. Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “We call on the Senate to reject this dangerous mandate.”

The Sunshine Protection Act would make daylight saving time permanent across the United States except in states that have adopted standard time prior to the effective date of the bill; it does not allow states to change to standard time after the bill has gone into effect. Permanent daylight saving time would cause misalignment with human circadian rhythms, which are crucial for regulating sleep, mood, and overall well-being. This biological misalignment would lead to chronic sleep deprivation and other health complications. It would also raise public safety concerns by increasing the risk of traffic accidents and pedestrian deaths, particularly for children waiting for school buses and walking to school in the dark.

“Members of the House unfortunately chose sunshine for golfers over sunshine for our kids,” said Coalition for Permanent Standard Time Chair Dr. Karin Johnson. “H.R. 139 will cause widespread circadian misalignment, leading to health and safety risks especially during short winter days.”

The AASM supports the elimination of the biannual time change, as research has linked the switch to daylight saving time in the spring with increased risks of accidents, cardiovascular events, and mood disturbances. However, instead of making daylight saving time permanent, the AASM is advocating for the establishment of permanent standard time, which more closely aligns with the sun and is the healthier, safer choice.

The AASM supports the bipartisan Sunshine for Our Kids Act (H.R. 9638) and will advocate for a similar bill to be introduced in the Senate. This legislation would implement permanent standard time, but it would also allow states to choose permanent daylight saving time even after the bill goes into effect.

For more information and resources, visit ditchDST.com.

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About the Coalition for Permanent Standard Time
Established in 2023, the Coalition for Permanent Standard Time is a dedicated group of diverse organizations and individuals that support the elimination of biannual clock change in the United States through the restoration of permanent standard time. The founding organizational members are the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, National Sleep Foundation, Save Standard Time, Sleep Research Society, and Society for Research on Biological Rhythms.

About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Established in 1975, the AASM is a medical association that advances sleep care and enhances sleep health to improve lives. The AASM membership includes more than 9,500 physicians, scientists, and other healthcare professionals who help people who have sleep disorders. The AASM also accredits 2,300 sleep centers that are providing the highest quality of sleep care across the country.

Position Statements

• AASM: Permanent standard time is the optimal choice for health and safety
• NSF: Permanent standard time
• SRS: It is time to abolish the clock change and adopt permanent standard time in the United States
• SRBR: Why should we abolish daylight saving time?

DARIEN, IL — New Current Procedural Terminology codes for unattended sleep testing have been included by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Medicare physician fee schedule proposed rule, which CMS posted online yesterday. The updated CPT code set, which the American Academy of Sleep Medicine helped develop and advance, is intended to better align coding with contemporary clinical practice, modern sleep testing technology, and the work required to provide and interpret these services.

The proposed changes respond to significant advances in sleep testing since the existing unattended sleep testing codes were created. Earlier codes were developed when available technologies were more limited and primarily focused on diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea. Today’s Food and Drug Administration-approved sleep testing technologies can collect and analyze a wider range of physiologic signals, derive sleep measurements, and support evaluation of multiple sleep disorders beyond obstructive sleep apnea.

“These new codes represent an important step toward modernizing how unattended sleep testing is reported and valued,” said AASM President Dr. Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg. “As sleep testing technologies and clinical applications continue to evolve, coding must keep pace with current clinical practice. The AASM is proud to have helped lead this effort to support fair and appropriate reimbursement while ensuring that coding better reflects the care patients receive.”

At a high level, the revised structure replaces three existing unattended sleep testing CPT codes (95800, 95801 and 95806) with six new codes that better reflect the complexity of the study. It separates technical services from professional interpretation and reporting. Technical services include activities related to equipment setup, data acquisition, operational support, and scoring and technical analysis, while professional services include interpretation and reporting by a physician or other qualified healthcare professional. This approach more closely aligns unattended sleep testing with Medicare valuation principles and better reflects the work performed by different members of the care team.

The AASM collaborated with the American Academy of Neurology, American College of Chest Physicians, and American Thoracic Society to submit significant revisions to the unattended sleep testing code family to the American Medical Association CPT Editorial Panel. This work reflects years of sustained collaboration and feedback from across the sleep community. The CPT Editorial Panel review process included broad stakeholder participation, and after approval, the codes were referred to the committee that updates the resource-based relative value scale. Drawing on survey data from physician members of the participating medical societies, it evaluated the clinical staff time, medical supplies, and equipment needed to provide the services. Those recommendations were then sent to CMS, which will ultimately finalize the relative value units for each code.

While CMS is proposing to finalize the Relative Value Scale Update Committee-recommended values for five of the six new codes, the Agency is proposing a slightly lower value than what was recommended for the remaining code. The values included in the CMS physician fee schedule proposed rule are not final. The AASM will submit comments on the proposed relative value units for each code, and CMS will review public comments and additional paid invoices submitted by the public, as requested, before publishing final values in the physician fee schedule final rule, expected in October 2026. The new codes are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2027.

The AASM will provide additional analysis, education, and opportunities for engagement as the rulemaking process continues and as members, vendors, and payers prepare for the transition to the revised codes. More detailed information about the new code structure and its implications for sleep medicine practices will be shared in future AASM communications.

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About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Established in 1975, the AASM is a medical association that advances sleep care and enhances sleep health to improve lives. The AASM membership includes more than 9,500 physicians, scientists, and other healthcare professionals who help people who have sleep disorders. The AASM also accredits 2,300 sleep centers that are providing the highest quality of sleep care across the country.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has released Advancing Healthy Weight Management in Sleep Medicine: Findings and Recommendations from the AASM Obesity Management Strategy Summit, a new report outlining opportunities for sleep medicine clinicians and practices to engage responsibly and effectively in obesity management.

The report summarizes findings from the AASM Obesity Management Strategy Summit, which brought together sleep medicine leaders, obesity medicine experts, patient advocates and other stakeholders to identify barriers, prioritize member needs and develop recommendations for integrating weight management into sleep care. The work focuses particularly on the relationship between obesity and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

The proposed roadmap includes immediate actions that can support clinicians and patients over the next 12 months, as well as strategic initiatives for continued development over the next one to three years. Recommendations emphasize practical implementation resources, multidisciplinary collaboration, patient-centered communication and the development of integrated guidance for obesity management in sleep medicine.

Key priorities identified in the report

• Clinical implementation and workflow: Develop clinic-ready workflows, documentation templates and practical tools for incorporating obesity-related conversations and assessments into sleep medicine visits
• Education and training: Create scalable educational resources addressing obesity management strategies, obesity medications and respectful, non-stigmatizing patient communication
• Access and coverage: Provide resources to help practices navigate prior authorization, payer requirements, medical necessity documentation and appeals
• Integrated guidance: Advance multidisciplinary frameworks and future guidelines that clarify the role of sleep clinicians in obesity management
• Patient engagement: Develop accessible, people-first educational resources that connect healthy weight management with sleep health outcomes
• Advocacy and partnerships: Collaborate with professional societies and patient advocacy organizations to improve access to evidence-based obesity care

AASM members and other sleep medicine professionals may access the complete Obesity Management Strategy Summit summary here.

DARIEN, IL — The American Academy of Sleep Medicine applauds today’s introduction in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Sunshine for Our Kids Act, legislation that would establish permanent standard time nationwide and help protect the health, safety, and well-being of individuals across the country.

The AASM thanks Pennsylvania Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon and North Carolina Rep. Pat Harrigan for their leadership in introducing this bipartisan legislation and for recognizing that the nation’s time policy should support healthy sleep, safer mornings, and better learning conditions for students. By prioritizing standard time, the Sunshine for Our Kids Act reflects the scientific consensus that morning light is essential for aligning the body’s internal clock and promoting alertness during the school day. Standard time also has a proven track record of supporting public health, improving student performance, and enhancing economic productivity.

“Permanent standard time is the healthier choice for all Americans,” said AASM President Dr. Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, a board-certified sleep medicine physician in Fort Myers, Florida. “We are grateful to Representatives Scanlon and Harrigan for championing legislation that puts health and safety first and helps ensure that mornings are better aligned with natural light and human circadian rhythms.”

The AASM has long supported the adoption of permanent standard time because it best aligns with human circadian biology, as noted in its position statement. In contrast, permanent daylight saving time would delay morning light exposure, making it harder for children and adolescents to wake, learn, and travel safely to school during dark winter mornings.

The Sunshine for Our Kids Act offers Congress a commonsense, science-based path forward: ending the disruptive twice-yearly clock changes while choosing the time standard that best supports public health. The AASM and its partners in the Coalition for Permanent Standard time urge lawmakers to support the bill and work toward national policies that prioritize public health and safety.

For more information about daylight saving time and to find additional resources from the AASM about sleep disorders, treatments, and sleep health, visit SleepEducation.org.

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About the Coalition for Permanent Standard Time

Established in 2023, the Coalition for Permanent Standard Time is a dedicated group of diverse organizations and individuals that support the elimination of biannual clock change in the United States through the restoration of permanent standard time. The founding organizational members are the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, National Sleep Foundation, Save Standard Time, Sleep Research Society, and Society for Research on Biological Rhythms (ditchDST.com).

About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Established in 1975, the AASM is a medical association that advances sleep care and enhances sleep health to improve lives. The AASM membership includes more than 9,500 physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals who help people who have sleep disorders. The AASM also accredits 2,300 sleep centers that are providing the highest quality of sleep care across the country.

Position Statements

• AASM: Permanent standard time is the optimal choice for health and safety

• NSF: Permanent standard time

• SRS: It is time to abolish the clock change and adopt permanent standard time in the United States

• SRBR: Why should we abolish daylight saving time?

Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, MD, became the president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) board of directors on Monday, June 15, during the AASM annual membership meeting, which took place in Baltimore as part of the SLEEP 2026 annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

This is an excerpt from the remarks that she presented during the membership meeting.

Remarks by Dr. Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg

Good morning, everyone. My name is Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, and I am incredibly honored to serve as the next president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. I have been involved with the Academy for 25 years. I have served on committees and task forces, chaired courses, and attended numerous meetings. And in all that time, the thing that strikes me the most is this: We are not one thing.

Some of you are like me: in practice every day fighting with insurance companies, explaining that bed rotting is not healthy. Some of you work in big healthcare systems or academic centers and do research, and thank goodness for that, because you are the ones asking the questions the rest of us need answers for. Some of you are the teachers of the next generation, and some of you do all of it. I have spent my career in various practice settings, and I know firsthand that the challenges facing a solo or small group are not the same as those facing my colleagues in large healthcare systems or academic centers.

I love that some of us are pulmonologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, or dentists. We are genuinely one of the most multidisciplinary specialties in all of medicine. This diversity makes our field so rich. I encourage all of you, no matter your training background or practice type, to get involved with the Academy.

So, as I step into this role, I want you to know a few things about what I believe. Access to sleep care is a health equity issue. Too many patients never get a diagnosis, never get treatment, never even get the conversation. This has to change, and we are the ones to change it.

Integration is essential. Sleep medicine does not succeed in isolation. It flourishes when we are connected with primary care, cardiology, psychiatry, pediatrics, and dentistry. We have to make it easier for the rest of medicine to work with us. We need new models of providing sleep care.

I am committed to focusing on practice success for sleep medicine physicians. We need tools, support, and resources that allow us all to do our best work. I am hopeful that the new home sleep apnea test codes will be meaningful and a step forward for our field. I want to focus on expediting new guidelines and providing clinically relevant updates to help our members and our patients.

Our workforce and pipeline matter. Our fellows are the future of this field, and investing in them, mentoring them, recruiting broadly, and making sleep medicine visible to the next generation is one of the most important things we can do.

Working along with industry and integrating new technologies thoughtfully gives us the opportunity to extend our reach and elevate our care, provided we do so with the scientific rigor and patient-centered values that define the Academy.

Academy courses and meetings remind me why the work matters. It made me fall in love with the science and practice of sleep medicine in the first place, and every meeting I fall in love all over again.

But the Academy has never just been a professional society to me. This community is deeply meaningful to me, not just professionally, but personally. And I suspect for many of you it is the same. Through the years, I have formed special bonds, which have been invaluable. For those of us in a practice setting, it can be very lonely. We often do not have other sleep colleagues in our same location.

This organization is our community. Not a bureaucracy, not just an accrediting body, but a living, breathing community of people who care deeply about something that many people take for granted every single night. It is an extraordinary privilege to help people sleep better. I do not take it lightly. I do not take this lightly.

Thank you for trusting me with this role. Thank you for building the community that has embraced me. And thank you, truly, for the work you do every single day.

Anita V. Shelgikar, MD, MHPE, completed her term as president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) board of directors on Monday, June 15, during the AASM annual membership meeting, which took place in Baltimore as part of the SLEEP 2026 annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

This is an excerpt from the remarks that she presented during the membership meeting.

Remarks by Dr. Anita V. Shelgikar

Now, it is my privilege to share with you the report of the Academy president. In the last 12 months, we have built on the momentum of last year’s successes, taken on new challenges, and continued to move our mission forward at a time when sleep medicine matters more than ever. As you listen today, I hope you’ll sense both the pride I feel in what we’ve accomplished, and the optimism I hold for where we are headed. I’d like to take a few minutes to highlight the key efforts that are positioning our field, and the Academy, for continued strength, growth, and service.

As an organization, we recently marked the AASM’s 50th anniversary — a meaningful milestone that reflects decades of collaboration, innovation, and growth in sleep medicine. While it is important to honor that history, our focus today is firmly on the present and the future. The opportunities and challenges before us underscore just how essential our work has become — for patients, health systems, and public health more broadly.

One of the most visible signs of the field’s vitality is the continued engagement of our community. Each year, clinicians, researchers, technologists, educators, and industry partners come together through Academy meetings, educational programs, and volunteer leadership. This engagement reflects not only growth in numbers, but also the interconnected nature of sleep medicine. The Academy remains committed to serving as a professional home for this diverse community.

Workforce Development

Among our highest priorities is workforce development. Across the country, members continue to navigate persistent workforce pressures, even as demand for sleep care grows. Supporting a strong, sustainable workforce is foundational to the future of our field.

In December, we reached an important milestone on Match Day. A total of 208 physicians matched into sleep medicine fellowship programs for the 2026 appointment year — the highest number to date. More than 100 of them joined us here in Baltimore over the weekend for our Fellow Bootcamp. This growth reflects increasing interest in our specialty and affirms the relevance of sleep medicine within the broader healthcare landscape. At the same time, it highlights the responsibility we share to support fellows, program directors, and training programs as practice models evolve and expectations change.

Workforce development goes far beyond the physician pipeline alone. The ongoing shortage of sleep technologists continues to affect practices nationwide, with real implications for access to care, operational efficiency, and quality. Addressing this shortage requires long-term, coordinated strategies in education, recruitment, and retention. The Academy remains actively engaged in efforts to support technologists and strengthen training pathways that sustain the delivery of high-quality sleep care.

These workforce developments are paying dividends. The number of U.S. physicians with active board certification in sleep medicine has increased by more than 5% since 2023. While these numbers are encouraging, the Academy is also developing collaborative relationships with other professional associations to help improve sleep care in primary care settings and in other specialties.

We are also focused on supporting advanced practice providers and the entire sleep team. Programs such as ASTEP reflect our commitment to inclusive workforce development and to equipping all members of the sleep team with the education and resources they need to practice effectively.

Supporting members also means addressing the administrative challenges that affect daily practice. We developed the Prior Authorization Toolkit to address a challenge many of you deal with regularly. The toolkit brings together guidance, templates, and resources aimed at reducing administrative burden and helping practices operate more efficiently.

We also released the Sleep Medicine Claims Denial Navigation Guide, a practical tool that helps clinicians and teams prevent denials, respond effectively when they occur, and optimize reimbursement across the practice revenue cycle. This resource offers sleep medicine-specific examples to improve reimbursement outcomes and operational efficiency. The toolkit and guide are available online as free member resources.

Clinical Guidance

Alongside workforce development, advancing evidence-based clinical guidance remains at the core of the Academy’s mission. Over the past year, the Academy released multiple clinical practice guidelines addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing clinicians today. These provided guidance on the treatment of central sleep apnea, the management of obstructive sleep apnea in adults hospitalized for medical care, the use of combination therapy for chronic insomnia disorder, and the management of shift work disorder.

We have several new clinical practice guidelines in development now. Two that are approaching completion are an update on the use of home sleep apnea tests in the pediatric population, and a focused update on diagnostic testing for sleep apnea in adults. Other guidelines that are in progress will address a broad range of important topics. These guidelines reflect both the complexity of modern sleep medicine and the Academy’s commitment to rigor, transparency, and clinical relevance. These documents remain among the Academy’s most meaningful contributions to improving patient care and supporting clinical decision making.

The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine continues to play a central role in disseminating this work and advancing the science of sleep. Under the leadership of Dr. Safwan Badr, who began his term as editor in chief in January 2025, the journal has continued to evolve and grow. The Academy’s publishing services agreement with Springer Nature supports broader visibility and global dissemination of JCSM content, while maintaining the journal’s editorial independence and scientific integrity. Members continue to receive full access to the journal as a benefit of membership, ensuring widespread access to trusted, peer-reviewed research.

Alongside the journal, we continue to expand how we share trusted information with broader audiences. The Talking Sleep podcast, hosted by Dr. Seema Khosla, extends our educational reach beyond traditional formats. This spring, Talking Sleep hit a big milestone when it reached half a million downloads. Some of the most popular recent episodes have compared hypoglossal nerve stimulators and explored concerns about microplastics for patients using PAP therapy. I encourage you to subscribe if you haven’t already.

Sleep Medicine Advocacy

Advocacy remains another cornerstone of the Academy’s work. Over the past year, the Academy has engaged actively at the federal level to support policies that advance sleep health, strengthen the sleep field, and protect patient access to care. Fixing Medicare reimbursement continues to be a top priority for the Academy and our members. The Academy is advocating for three bills that have been introduced in Congress. These bills would address the problem of budget neutrality adjustments, delay implementation of work RVU efficiency adjustments, and provide an annual inflationary update for the Medicare physician fee schedule. If these issues are important to you as well, I encourage you to visit the Action Center on the AASM website, where you can easily contact your legislators.

Payer advocacy has been a particularly important area of focus. The Academy worked to address policy changes that would have negatively affected the delivery of sleep services. Our efforts prompted Cigna to pause an automatic downcoding policy that would have undervalued sleep medicine services. Our work also contributed to UnitedHealthcare delaying a restrictive remote patient monitoring policy change. The Academy also expressed concerns related to durable medical equipment fulfillment and a Wellmark policy affecting sleep study reimbursement. Telemedicine remains essential to access for many patients, and the Academy has continued to urge federal agencies to protect telehealth flexibilities that support high quality, accessible sleep care. Behind the scenes, our health policy and advocacy teams continue to advocate for long-term, bipartisan solutions related to reimbursement stability, prior authorization reform, and coverage policies that reflect clinical realities.

In April, members participated in the Academy’s annual Hill Day. They met with congressional offices to advance priorities such as physician reimbursement, permanent standard time, prior authorization reform, and the expansion of funding for residencies in rural areas. These conversations are essential to ensuring that sleep medicine has a strong voice at the policy table. We also are investing in the future of advocacy by participating in the American Academy of Neurology’s Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum, gaining insights that will help shape advocacy training opportunities for our members.

Strategic Initiatives

This year we also advanced several strategic initiatives with direct relevance to clinical practice. Among the most substantial of our efforts is the home sleep apnea testing code change application that we submitted to the AMA CPT Editorial Panel. The current code structure no longer fully reflects the diversity and complexity of technologies in use today. Devices differ in the parameters they measure and in their application across sleep disorders, and many extend beyond the diagnosis of OSA. The proposed code set better aligns coding with contemporary clinical practice and is intended to support fair and appropriate reimbursement. These recommendations have been forwarded from the AMA to CMS for potential implementation in January 2027. We anticipate sharing additional details when the physician fee schedule proposed rule is released this summer. This work reflects years of sustained collaboration and thoughtful input from across the sleep community.

Advancing women’s sleep health has also been a significant priority. The Academy launched a women’s sleep health initiative and convened a task force led by Dr. Suzie Bertisch to examine sex and gender-specific factors affecting sleep across the lifespan. In November, the task force hosted a Women’s Sleep Health Summit that brought together patients, clinicians, researchers, and industry representatives to assess gaps and opportunities in research, care, and education. Findings from the summit will be published soon and will help inform future initiatives, including clinical guidance, advocacy, and educational programming. This spring, the task force also hosted a four- part webinar series focused on women’s sleep health and sleep disorders.

Obesity management within sleep medicine continues to evolve rapidly. Following FDA approval of tirzepatide for adults with obesity and moderate to severe OSA, clinicians have navigated new questions related to patient selection, long-term management, monitoring, and insurance coverage. At the same time, investigational therapies and novel oral treatments for OSA highlight the pace of innovation in this space. An Academy task force led by Dr. Tim Morgenthaler has been working to clarify clinical guidance and convene stakeholders to support members as practice expectations continue to shift. These efforts extend to national collaborations, including the Academy’s role as a champion of Obesity Care Week, working alongside more than 140 organizations to raise awareness of obesity, its treatment, and access to care.

The Academy has also introduced new tools to support members clinically and operationally. This year marked the launch of PLATO, a patient reported outcome tool that helps assess symptom burden and treatment response in adults with OSA. PLATO can be licensed for free use in clinical practice, and it supports longitudinal monitoring of patient-reported outcomes.

Professional Education

Professional education remains central to the Academy’s mission. This fall, the Academy is hosting a weekly study club and a one-day review course to help sleep physicians prepare for the board certification and MOC exam. We also offer an on-demand Sleep Medicine Essentials course and the Sleep Qs study tool. These events and resources provide a variety of learning formats and options in preparation for the Nov. 10 exam.

Flagship educational programs, including Sleep Medicine Trends, continue to evolve to meet member needs, offering opportunities to strengthen both clinical expertise and practice management skills. Please save the date and make plans to join us next February near Las Vegas for Sleep Medicine Trends 2027!

As we look ahead, the Academy remains focused on supporting sleep physicians, strengthening the workforce, advancing evidence-based care, and advocating for policies that sustain our field.

Collaboration and Leadership

None of this work would be possible without the dedication of our volunteer members. The Academy continues to benefit from an extraordinary level of engagement across committees, task forces, assemblies, and work groups. 2026 marks the second consecutive year in which the Academy achieved a 100% placement rate for people who applied to volunteer. Earlier this year, 117 members volunteered to serve, which is a 36% increase from last year. Every one of those individuals was invited to participate, either as a committee member or as a strategic ambassador. This level of interest reflects a deep commitment among our members to help shape the work of the Academy and advance our shared priorities. Simply put, the Academy couldn’t do this work without our volunteers. I’m incredibly thankful for your commitment and willingness to get involved.

This work is supported by an outstanding staff at our national office. The Academy’s senior staff and the teams they lead work tirelessly to keep the organization thriving. And this commitment is guided by a board of directors that remains focused on what matters most to our members. It has been an honor to collaborate with such dedicated colleagues in advancing the Academy’s mission and vision.

Conclusion

As my term as Academy president comes to a close, I’d like to thank my family — at home and at work — for their unfailing support and encouragement this year. Most importantly, I thank each of you, my fellow AASM members, for the care you provide, the expertise you share, and the many ways you help the Academy to advance sleep medicine. I’m grateful for your partnership and optimistic about the future we are creating together.

We have built momentum together, and I am confident that we are well positioned for the future. Serving as your president has been one of the most gratifying, defining, and meaningful experiences in my life. Thank you for placing your trust in me and for allowing me to serve our American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Recent physician payment debate in Congress

Over the past several years, physician payment has remained one of the most urgent health policy issues before Congress. For sleep physicians, Medicare payment policy directly affects practice stability, access to care, and the ability to provide evaluation and management services, care coordination, testing, and interpretation for older adults with sleep disorders. The central challenge is that payment under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule has not kept pace with rising practice costs, while annual budget-neutrality rules and temporary congressional fixes have created ongoing uncertainty for physician practices.

In the last few years, lawmakers have considered both long-term reform and short-term relief. The Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act offered a structural solution by tying physician payment updates to the Medicare Economic Index, rather than relying on inadequate statutory updates. But after CMS finalized the calendar year 2025 Physician Fee Schedule rule, and Congress did not enact a year-end fix, the payment cut took effect. In response, lawmakers introduced H.R. 879, the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act of 2025, a bipartisan bill to reverse the cut and provide additional payment support.

Together, these proposals highlight the core debate in Congress: whether to continue relying on temporary patches, or finally adopt a permanent payment framework that provides stable, inflation-sensitive updates.

What the AASM is doing now

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine is actively working to advance physician payment reform by bringing the perspective of sleep medicine directly to lawmakers. During AASM Hill Day in April 2026, members met with congressional offices to explain how repeated Medicare payment instability affects access to care and the services patients need. The AASM also used those meetings to highlight the reintroduced H.R. 6160, the Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act, and H.R 7520, the Efficiency Adjustment Delay Act.

A key focus of that advocacy is support for H.R. 8163, the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act of 2026. As the AASM highlighted, the bill would modernize Medicare’s budget-neutrality rules to reduce volatility in the Physician Fee Schedule, while also addressing some of the structural factors that contribute to sudden payment swings. The legislation would raise the budget-neutrality threshold, allow corrections when utilization assumptions are inaccurate, require more regular updates to practice expense inputs, and limit annual changes in the conversion factor beginning in 2027.

From the work done on and around our visit to the Hill, several representatives we connected with have cosponsored H.R. 8163, and it became a central focus of the House Energy and Commerce hearing in May.

Rep. Morgan Griffith, chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, summarized the challenges in a recent hearing: “Despite efforts in MACRA to move past annual ‘doc fixes’ and enhance seniors’ quality of care, we have continued to see physician payment instability in the Medicare program. This uncertainty, in addition to other regulatory burdens, creates challenges for providers and, ultimately, the beneficiaries they serve.”

By advocating for H.R. 8163 alongside other physician payment reforms, the AASM is urging Congress to move beyond temporary patches and toward a more predictable Medicare payment system that better supports sleep physicians and protects patient access to care.

What you can do

Meaningful Medicare physician payment reform will require sustained advocacy from the sleep medicine community. There are several ways you can make your voice heard:

Contact your members of Congress
One of the most effective ways to influence policy is by communicating directly with your federal representatives. Through the AASM’s Action Center, you can quickly send prewritten messages to your senators and representative urging action on physician payment reform, making it easy to take action in just a few clicks. Also review the Advocacy Toolkit for additional resources.

Meet with lawmakers in your district
Members of Congress rely on input from constituents — especially physicians and clinical professionals — to understand how federal policies affect care delivery. When lawmakers are home in their districts (often in August and other recess periods), consider requesting a meeting with the member of Congress or their staff.

These in-person interactions are highly impactful and help build long-term relationships that strengthen the AASM’s advocacy efforts.

Support advocacy through the AASM PAC
Another important way to advance the AASM’s advocacy priorities is by supporting the AASM Political Action Committee (PAC), which helps support candidates who understand and champion issues important to sleep medicine. To learn more about how the PAC supports these efforts and how to get involved, visit the AASM Political Action Committee page.

Contributions to the AASM PAC are voluntary and are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes. You may refuse to contribute without reprisal. Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, address, occupation, and employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. Contributions are limited to eligible individuals under federal law.