$300 Million, 15% Membership, $486 Million Lobbying: The AMA Exposed
The American Medical Association claims to speak for physicians. The receipts say otherwise. This week, we follow the money.
Your premium went up again this year.
Your reimbursement went down.
Meanwhile, the organization that claims to represent you added $127 million to its war chest. The AMA spent $486 million lobbying. Independent medicine collapsed anyway. This week, we follow the money.
IN TODAY’S ARTICLE:
Why $486 million in lobbying failed to protect independent medicine
The revenue source that has nothing to do with membership
The $1.15 billion war chest was built while independent medicine collapsed
Five days, five articles, every receipt
Glossary at the bottom of today’s article.
THE PROSECUTION BRIEF
This week, let’s put the American Medical Association on trial.
Not with opinions. With their own filings. Their own IRS-990s. Their own annual reports. Their own lobbying disclosures. The AMA claims to be the voice of American medicine. The largest physician organization in the country. The defender of the profession.
The evidence tells a different story.
An organization that represents a shrinking minority of physicians. That generates the majority of its revenue from a government-granted monopoly. That spends tens of millions lobbying while the profession it claims to protect loses ground every year.
Five counts. Five days. Every receipt.
COUNT ONE: THE BILLING CODE MONOPOLY
Tuesday’s article.
The AMA’s largest revenue source isn’t membership dues.
It’s royalties. $301,440,074 in 2024. 55.2% of total revenue.
The source: CPT codes. Current Procedural Terminology. The billing codes that every physician, every hospital, every insurance company in America must use.
The United States Government mandates the use of AMA billing codes.
The AMA “lobbies” lawmakers to keep its exclusive contract.
The AMA owns them. Everyone pays.
This isn’t a membership organization.
It’s a toll booth.
Tuesday, we break down how the AMA built a $300 million annual monopoly, why no alternatives exist, and what it means that the organization “representing” physicians extracts from every single one of them, member or not.
On December 14, 2025, I started publishing regularly on Substack. I didn’t think anyone would want to read about healthcare policy. Turns out, I was right.
No one wants to read about healthcare policy. People do, however, want to understand who is responsible and what can be done. Last week, The Rojas Report hit #2 in Healthcare Politics. Substack gave us the orange checkmark (Defined as Hundreds of Subscribers). That’s because of you. Thank you.
If you’re not subscribed yet, this week is a good week to start.
Five days. Five counts. Every receipt. Subscribe
