Top news stories from AMA Morning Rounds®: Week of Feb. 3, 2025

Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Feb. 3, 2025–Feb. 7, 2025.

Fierce Healthcare (1/31, Muoio) reported, “A bipartisan group of representatives introduced a bill Friday that would offset and exceed a pay cut for doctors that went into effect at the top of this year.” According to Fierce Healthcare, “the proposed adjustment would take effect April 1 and run through the rest of 2025, thereby leaving the year’s 2.83% Medicare pay cut in place for services furnished from January to March.” However, “services furnished after the cutoff...would see a 6.62% increase—offsetting the pay cut, adjusting for inflation and prorating the first three months of pay cuts.” In a statement, AMA President Bruce A. Scott, MD, said, “This legislation would begin to roll back the cuts physician practices have faced over the last four years while we all have experienced high inflation. ... As evidenced by this bipartisan legislation, lawmakers know the trend is unsustainable and, if left unaddressed, will ultimately harm their constituents. Patient access to care and practice sustainability are not partisan or geographical issues. It’s an urgent national issue that demands immediate attention from Congress.”

Editor’s note: Medicare physician pay has declined 33% over the last 20 years. These declines are unsustainable and threaten patients’ access to physicians. How the AMA is leading the charge on reform.

Forbes (2/3, Japsen) reports, “The Cigna Group announced a new multi-year effort to improve accountability, transparency and customer support.” In order “to ensure greater accountability, Cigna said the company ‘will tie its leaders’ compensation to improving the satisfaction of its customers.’” Additionally, “beginning in early 2026, Cigna said it will publish an annual ‘Customer Transparency Report’ to make its progress towards its commitments clear.” In a statement, AMA President Bruce A. Scott, MD, said, “The AMA is pleased that Cigna announced their intention to implement ‘tangible actions’ to improve health care including changes to their prior authorization processes. Now we await action.”

Modern Healthcare (2/3, Berryman, Subscription Publication) reports, “Cigna did not specify how much customer satisfaction would influence executive pay nor which executives would be affected.” Cigna “outlined five planks for its new strategy: Easier Access to Care, Better Support, Delivering Better Value, Accountability and Transparency.”

You may also be interested in: How the AMA fights for physicians on prior authorization, Medicare payment reform and more.

Cardiovascular Business (2/4, Walter) reports, “Adults who regularly floss their teeth may be significantly decreasing their risk of stroke or heart rhythm issues, according to new findings.” Investigators looked at “data from more than 6,000 study participants with an average age of 62 years old.” The researchers found that “overall, flossing at least once per week was associated with a 22% lower risk of ischemic stroke, a 44% lower risk of cardioembolic stroke and a 12% lower risk of AFib.” The study also indicated that flossing more frequently “appeared to lead to more significant risk reductions.” The research was scheduled to be presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2025.

The AP (2/5, Perrone) reports, “Patients who use smartphone apps to manage their diabetes could face serious health problems if they miss notifications needed to control their blood sugar,” according to a warning the FDA issued Wednesday. The agency “said...it has received multiple reports of users missing or not hearing important medical alerts from their phones, leading to cases of dangerously low blood sugar and even death.” The FDA’s “warning applies to a growing field of wearable devices that track patients’ sugar levels or automatically deliver insulin, the hormone that helps manage glucose in the blood and break it down into energy.”

According to Cardiovascular Business (2/5, Walter), the FDA “emphasized that device manufacturer instructions should always be followed as closely as possible and smartphone OS updates should only be completed after confirming they will not impact a medical device’s effectiveness.”

CNN (2/5, Goodman) reports, “Six dairy herds in Nevada have tested positive for a newer variant of the H5N1 bird flu virus that’s been associated with severe infections in humans, according to the Nevada Department of Agriculture.” Health researchers “say these infections with a different type of virus mark an inflection point in the nation’s efforts to contain the virus: It may be here to stay.”

Editor’s note: Stay informed on highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) with the latest updates from the AMA’s bird flu (H5N1) resource center.

AMA Morning Rounds news coverage is developed in affiliation with Bulletin Healthcare LLC. Subscribe to Morning Rounds Daily.