American Medical Association

The American Medical Association (AMA) is a U.S.-based professional association founded in 1847 to advance the art and science of medicine and improve public health. It is headquartered in Chicago and operates as a membership and advocacy organization rather than a commercial consumer brand or publicly traded company. Its membership and institutional representation extend through state medical societies and medical specialty associations, giving it a national platform in debates concerning medical education, physician practice, health insurance, prescription-drug policy, competition, public health, and the organization of care. The AMA's activities combine professional publishing, standards work, member services, policy research, public communication, and lobbying. Its best-known publishing property is JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, which is part of a broader family of medical journals. Another major offering is Current Procedural Terminology, commonly known as CPT, a physician-service coding system maintained by the AMA and used extensively in U.S. health-care billing, reimbursement, claims administration, and health-policy analysis. CPT is a standards and intellectual-property product of the association, not a clinical treatment service. Historically, the AMA played a major role in shaping the institutional structure of American medicine. During the early twentieth century it created committees and councils concerned with legislation, pharmaceutical standards, and drug advertising. Its voluntary drug-approval program operated until 1955 and required evidence of effectiveness for medicines advertised in the association's journal. The organization also became an influential participant in national health-care policy debates, including disputes over physician supply, health maintenance organizations, health insurance, public coverage, professional advertising, and access to care. The association's history includes both influential public-health interventions and significant criticism. It challenged tobacco marketing aimed at children, including the use of the Joe Camel character, and has advocated for clearer disclosure of clinicians' education, training, and licensing through its Truth in Advertising initiative. At the same time, its historical opposition to some forms of health-care organization and expanded access has been criticized, and its conduct involving physician agreements with health maintenance organizations led to antitrust litigation and Supreme Court proceedings. These controversies are important to understanding the AMA as a policy institution whose positions have sometimes affected competition and access in the wider health-care system. In the contemporary period, the AMA presents itself as an organization helping physicians address the pressures of practice, regulation, payment, consolidation, workforce change, technology, and public-health emergencies. It has campaigned against or scrutinized proposed health-care mergers when it believes consolidation could reduce competition or raise costs. During the COVID-19 pandemic it joined other national health-care organizations in public communication intended to encourage vaccination and other measures to reduce transmission, while also thanking health-care workers. The AMA remains an active U.S. medical-policy voice, although its influence, membership position, and relationship with physicians continue to evolve as doctors work in independent practices, hospitals, insurers, private-equity-backed groups, and other employment models.

The American Medical Association was established in 1847 as a national organization intended to promote standards and collective representation in American medicine. Over time it became one of the most recognizable institutions in U.S. health care, linking physicians and organized medicine with public policy, medical education, professional ethics, publishing, and health-system regulation. Its institutional reach has included more than 190 state medical societies and medical specialty associations. During the early twentieth century, the AMA expanded its policy and standards infrastructure. Its Committee on National Legislation created a Committee on Medical Legislation in 1901. In 1905 the association created the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry, which addressed standards for drug manufacturing and advertising. The AMA also operated a voluntary drug-approval program from 1905 until 1955. Under that system, pharmaceutical companies seeking to advertise medicines in the AMA's journal were expected to provide evidence supporting effectiveness. These activities helped establish the association as an intermediary between physicians, pharmaceutical companies, medical information, and the public. The AMA's policy influence also brought it into conflicts over the organization and financing of care. In the 1930s it attempted to prevent members from working with health-maintenance organizations created during the Great Depression. The conduct was found to violate the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the resulting conviction was ultimately affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Decades later, a 1982 Supreme Court decision upheld a Federal Trade Commission order allowing doctors and dentists to advertise without interference from professional associations. The ruling constrained the AMA's ability to obstruct arrangements between physicians and health-maintenance organizations and professional advertising. In the second half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, the association continued to combine advocacy with professional publishing and standards work. JAMA became its most prominent journal title, while CPT developed into a central coding framework for reporting physician services in the United States. The coding system supports interactions among clinicians, insurers, government programs, billing organizations, and health-care researchers. The AMA also used its public platform to address issues beyond internal professional governance. In 1991 it publicized research indicating that R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's Joe Camel advertising character reached more children than adults and called for the campaign to end because of its appeal to youth. The organization periodically sought to refresh its public image and strengthen its relationship with physicians and patients. In 2005 it launched a national multimedia campaign presenting doctors as everyday heroes and emphasizing the association's patient-advocacy role. A related brand effort used the message that the AMA helps doctors help patients and introduced updated visual identity and advertising. The association later promoted Truth in Advertising, an initiative focused on making clinicians' education, training, licensing, and professional titles clear to patients. The campaign argued that patients should be able to distinguish among different types of health-care professionals and should not be misled by advertising or websites. More recently, the AMA has concentrated on physician practice conditions, health-care affordability, consolidation, public health, and changing employment models. It has opposed or investigated mergers when it believes vertical integration or market concentration may reduce competition and increase prices. Its opposition to the proposed CVS-Aetna transaction in 2018 was based on potential effects across pharmacy-benefit management, Medicare Part D, insurance, and pharmacy markets. The association has also tracked the movement of physicians into hospital-owned and private-equity-owned practices, citing declining real payment levels, regulatory burdens, and the need for expensive infrastructure as pressures on independent practices. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the AMA joined other national health-care organizations in campaigns supporting vaccination and public-health precautions and in thanking clinicians and other health-care workers. Today the association remains an active national voice for physicians and a producer of medical information, coding standards, research, and policy recommendations. Its historical record is mixed: it has contributed to professional standards and public-health advocacy, while its earlier positions on physician supply, alternative care, health-care access, advertising, and managed care have generated sustained criticism and legal scrutiny.

• 1991

  Joe Camel youth-appeal findings publicized

  [2]American Medical Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The AMA publicized findings about the Joe Camel campaign's reach among children and called on R. J. Reynolds to stop using the character.

• 1982

  Supreme Court upheld FTC advertising order

  [2]American Medical Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The Supreme Court upheld an FTC order permitting doctors and dentists to advertise without professional-association interference.

• 1955

  Voluntary drug-approval program ended

  [2]American Medical Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The association's voluntary drug-approval program ended after operating for roughly five decades.

• 1905

  Pharmacy and drug-review functions expanded

  [2]American Medical Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The AMA created the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry and began a voluntary drug-approval program.

• 1901

  Medical legislation committee established

  [2]American Medical Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The AMA's Committee on National Legislation established a Committee on Medical Legislation.

• 1847

  Association founded

  [1]American Medical Association official websiteama-assn.org

  The American Medical Association was founded as a national U.S. medical professional association.

A national physician association and policy institution combining professional representation, medical publishing, coding standards, policy research, advocacy, and public-health communication.

• Medical publishing

  JAMA

  JAMA is the AMA's best-known medical journal and the central title in its broader journal-publishing portfolio. It publishes clinical research, reviews, viewpoints, and other scholarly medical content for physicians, researchers, and health-policy audiences.

• Medical coding standard

  Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)

  CPT is a physician-service coding system maintained by the AMA. It provides standardized terminology and codes used to describe medical procedures and services in clinical documentation, billing, reimbursement, claims processing, and health-care analysis.

• Professional and policy services

  Policy research and advocacy

  The AMA produces policy analyses, research perspectives, advocacy materials, and professional resources covering physician practice, payment, competition, consolidation, public health, medical education, and health-care regulation.

• 2026

  PatientRightsAdvocate.org sues American Medical Association over CPT code access

  PatientRightsAdvocate.org filed a lawsuit against the American Medical Association on August 13, 2026, seeking to make the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) coding system freely and openly available to the American public. The organization argued that patients, health plans, and providers should not have to pay a private trade association for codes required by federal and state law.

  Source

• 1930

  Antitrust case involving health-maintenance organizations

  The AMA attempted to restrict members from working with certain health-maintenance organizations. The conduct was found to violate the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the resulting conviction was ultimately affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

  Source

Read more

• 2021Season of Thanks health-care worker campaign

  United States

  The AMA joined the American Hospital Association and American Nurses Association in a television and digital campaign thanking health-care workers during the holiday season of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Outcome. The campaign extended joint public-health communication and appreciation efforts during the pandemic.

  Source
• 2005Everyday Heroes brand campaign

  United States

  The AMA launched a national multimedia campaign portraying physicians as everyday heroes and presenting the association as an advocate for patients, including people without health insurance. Television, radio, and print executions featured physicians and used messaging centered on helping doctors help patients.

  Outcome. The campaign was designed to improve the AMA's public image and support membership engagement; a definitive measured outcome is not established in the supplied sources.

  Source
• Truth in Advertising

  United States

  The initiative promotes clear disclosure of health-care providers' education, training, licensing, and professional role. It provides model legislation, talking points, and survey evidence concerning patient confusion about who is a physician.

  Outcome. The campaign continues to provide advocacy and educational resources; no definitive nationwide legislative outcome is specified in the supplied material.

  Source

• 2018

  AMA urged regulators to block CVS's acquisition of AetnaM&A

  Background

  The AMA analyzed the proposed combination of CVS Health and Aetna and identified potential effects on pharmacy-benefit management, Medicare Part D, health insurance, retail pharmacy, and specialty pharmacy competition.

  Action taken

  The association urged federal and state regulators to oppose the transaction and presented its concerns in regulatory proceedings.

  Aftermath

  CVS rejected the AMA's assessment. The supplied sources do not provide a complete account of the transaction's final legal outcome.

  • CVS Health — CVS said it strongly disagreed with the AMA's assessment of the proposed transaction.

  Source

• 2015

  AMA backed a policy opposing direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugsStrategy

  Background

  The association cited concerns that commercially driven advertising could increase demand for expensive medicines, encourage use of treatments that might not be necessary, and contribute to higher drug spending.

  Action taken

  The AMA adopted a policy calling for a physician task force and advocacy intended to promote more affordable prescription drugs and greater choice and competition.

  Aftermath

  The policy was an advocacy position; the supplied source does not establish that a legal ban was enacted.

  Source

• 2007

  AMA opposed UnitedHealth's proposed Sierra Health acquisitionM&A

  Background

  The AMA argued that UnitedHealth's purchase of Sierra Health Services could create excessive concentration in Nevada health-maintenance-organization markets.

  Action taken

  The association asked the U.S. Justice Department to block the proposed acquisition.

  Aftermath

  The supplied source does not document the final regulatory outcome.

  Source

• 2025

  AMA highlighted physician movement into hospital and private-equity-owned practices[10]AMA highlighted physician movement into hospital and private-equity-owned practicesama-assn.org

  Other

  The AMA reported increasing shares of physicians working in hospital-owned and private-equity-owned practices and linked the trend to payment pressure, administrative burdens, and the rising cost of maintaining independent practices.

• 2021

  AHA, AMA and ANA thanked health-care workers in a national campaign[6]AHA, AMA and ANA release ad campaign thanking health-care workersaha.org

  Campaign

  The American Hospital Association, AMA, and American Nurses Association released television and digital advertising thanking health-care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and reinforcing messages about vaccination and measures to limit transmission.

• 2018

  AMA opposed the proposed CVS-Aetna merger[5]AMA: CVS-Aetna merger should be blockedama-assn.org

  M&A · Regulation

  The AMA urged federal and state regulators to block CVS Health's proposed acquisition of Aetna, arguing that the transaction could reduce competition in pharmacy-benefit management, Medicare Part D, insurance, retail pharmacy, and specialty pharmacy markets. CVS disputed the association's assessment.

• 2007

  AMA opposed UnitedHealth's proposed purchase of Sierra Health Services[8]AMA opposed UnitedHealth's proposed Sierra Health acquisitionnytimes.com

  M&A · Regulation

  The association asked the U.S. Justice Department to block UnitedHealth Group's proposed acquisition of Sierra Health Services, citing possible concentration in Nevada health-maintenance-organization markets.

1. 1American Medical Association official websiteama-assn.org
2. 2American Medical Associationen.wikipedia.org
3. 3AMA unveils brand marketing campaignamednews.com
4. 4Truth in advertisingama-assn.org
5. 5AMA: CVS-Aetna merger should be blockedama-assn.org
6. 6AHA, AMA and ANA release ad campaign thanking health-care workersaha.org
7. 7AMA backed a policy opposing direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugsashpublications.org
8. 8AMA opposed UnitedHealth's proposed Sierra Health acquisitionnytimes.com
9. 9PatientRightsAdvocate.org sues American Medical Association over CPT code accessprnewswire.com
10. 10AMA highlighted physician movement into hospital and private-equity-owned practicesama-assn.org
11. 11AMA introduces Ethical AI Use in Medicine Serieswebwire.com