In a Jan. 9 survey, the American Medical Association identifies physicians’ core concerns regarding what is expected to be a “dynamic state legislative landscape” in 2026.
The survey includes responses from 64 medical societies in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
The top legislative issues identified in the survey include:
1. Scope of practice: Eighty-nine percent of respondents said scope of practice was a top legislative priority for them in 2026–the single most cited issue nationwide, according to the report.
Medical societies are looking ahead at legislation they said is being pushed by non-physicians seeking independent practice, prescriptive authority and the unsupervised diagnosis of patients.
2. Medicaid policy: Seventy-two percent of respondents said that Medicaid legislation and regulation was a core issue for them in 2026. Within Medicaid as a broad issue, physicians said that reimbursement, funding and financing stability, redeterminations and coverage continuity, payment models, managed care reform and implementing new federal required community engagement and work requirements were top concerns.
Respondents added that low reimbursement and administrative burdens related to Medicaid are driving patient access problems.
3. Physician workforce: Two-thirds of respondents said that physician workforce issues were a top legislative concern. They specifically cited the expansion of residency positions, securing GME funding, resident retention programs and alternative GME funding models as core issues.
4. Medical licensure and telehealth: Sixty-seven percent of medical societies expect to work on medical licensure issues in 2026. This reflects growing efforts to secure additional licensing pathways for international physicians and to adopt the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. Physicians are also interested in a legislative response to licensure flexibility for cross-state care via telehealth.
5. Public health pressures vs. political polarization: Public health ranked in the top five concerns for 33 states and four national medical specialty societies, who specifically cited vaccination policy as a concern. Other public health issues of note included reproductive health, tobacco and e-cigarette use and end-of-life care.
Other noted topics included the implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, private health insurance reforms and regulation around AI, data and competition in healthcare.
