PAC October Newsletter
Legislative Recap and Advocacy Efforts, Another Member Benefit for Private Practice Physicians, and Meet Dr. Join Luh!
A message from PAC President and CEO Matthew Robinson, plus the latest on our priority bills, member benefits, and physician stories from around California.
In this newsletter:
- Recap of the final status of PAC’s priority bills for the 2025-26 legislative session and other advocacy updates
- New Member Benefit - Vinea
- Watch the Healthcare Compliance Pros (HCP) Webinar: Riding the Waves of Corporate Compliance
- Hooper Lundy & Bookman Office Hour on November 11
- The latest from PAC & Forth — PAC’s Official Podcast
- Member spotlight: Dr. Join Luh
Members,
That’s a wrap! With the 2025–26 California Legislative Session complete, PAC advocated for you and helped pass new laws that will improve the claims reimbursement process, reduce paperwork for independent physicians and support patient care throughout California. Details below in our Legislative Update.
Fighting Federal Medicare Cuts: PAC’s advocacy continues. On September 14, we submitted a letter and formal comments to the federal government urging it to withdraw proposed payment cuts that could force more independent practices across California to close. Click here to read more.
No on Prop. 44: We are part of the coalition urging Californians to vote no on Proposition 44, the dangerous statewide ballot measure that threatens access to care for millions of California patients. Click here to read more.
New Member Benefit: We have announced a new collaboration with Vinea, a physician-founded, mobile-first professional learning platform designed to make continuing education more accessible, personalized, and aligned with how clinicians practice. Through Vinea, PAC members can discover relevant educational content, access CME opportunities, track credits and professional development, participate in reflective and peer learning, and receive personalized learning recommendations, all within a single connected learning ecosystem.
Free Education for your Practice: Corporate Compliance Webinar and Upcoming Legal Office Hour: We recently announced a new collaboration with Healthcare Compliance Pros (HCP) that will give PAC members discounts on solutions that help them spend less time maintaining compliance and more time caring for their patients. PAC and HCP hosted a webinar about corporate compliance on September 23 — check it out here.
Hooper, Lundy & Bookman will be hosting another free office hour with PAC members on November 11th where you will have the opportunity to ask a variety of legal questions. Space is limited and you can RSVP here.
Matthew Robinson, President and CEO
Legislative Update
November 3 General Election: California’s general election is Tuesday, November 3. PAC was the first provider group to endorse Xavier Becerra for governor, recognizing his record on healthcare and experience addressing the challenges facing physicians and patients. Read PAC’s endorsement.
PAC is also urging a NO vote on Proposition 44: Joining a coalition of healthcare providers, patients and community leaders. PAC warns that the measure would cut $1.7 billion from community health clinics in its first year alone, forcing reductions in services and clinic closures that would jeopardize access to care for millions of Californians. Learn why PAC opposes Proposition 44.
The 2025–26 legislative session has wrapped. On September 30, Governor Gavin Newsom signed and vetoed his final bills as California’s 40th governor. During the 2026 legislative session, California lawmakers sent 1,160 bills to Governor Newsom’s desk. Of those measures, he signed 1,040 bills into law and vetoed 120, marking a 10.3% veto rate for his final regular session in office.
A giant thank you to hundreds of private practice physicians who wrote letters supporting bills to advance our profession — your advocacy efforts paid off in a big way!
What these new laws mean for you and your practice: Once again, PAC will offer a free new laws webinar to our members in January 2027. Details to come in the near future.
SB 964
Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas
SB 964 will let treating providers request permission to adjust how much or how often a patient takes an approved medication for a serious chronic condition or cancer, without repeated health plan reviews. Plans must respond within 72 hours and approve requests that meet the law’s requirements. PAC helped lawmakers understand why physicians need flexibility to adjust treatment without creating more delays for patients.
SB 1049
Senator Akilah Weber Pierson
SB 1049 will give providers at least 90 days to correct a billing claim after a health plan or insurer denies it or requests repayment over a fixable error. That window starts with the plan’s most recent action, even if the original filing deadline has passed.
AB 1703
Assemblymember Gregg Hart
AB 1703 will protect patients by barring people without an Osteopathic Medical Board license from using “doctor of osteopathy,” “D.O.” or language that falsely suggests they are licensed osteopathic physicians. These protections take effect January 1, 2028.
AB 1199
Assemblymember Joe Patterson
AB 1199 will let hospitals review physicians’ qualifications and renew their medical staff appointments every three years instead of every two, reducing paperwork for physicians.
Federal Advocacy
PAC’s advocacy extends beyond Sacramento. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed cutting Medicare payments by as much as 50 percent for certain services. In a September 14 letter, PAC urged CMS to withdraw the proposed cuts and explained how the cuts could force independent practices across California to close. Read our press release here.
PAC is proud to continue fighting for independent physicians. We will keep you updated.
PAC Partners with Vinea to Bring a New Approach to Continuing Medical Education
The Physician Association of California (PAC) has announced a new collaboration with Vinea, a physician-founded, mobile-first professional learning platform designed to make continuing education more accessible, personalized, and aligned with how clinicians practice. Through Vinea, PAC members can discover relevant educational content, access CME opportunities, track credits and professional development, participate in reflective and peer learning, and receive personalized learning recommendations, all within a single connected learning ecosystem.
This collaboration demonstrates PAC’s commitment to helping physicians meet continuing education requirements and remain lifelong learners. Vinea is designed to make professional learning an ongoing part of a clinician’s career, helping physicians stay current with rapidly changing clinical knowledge, learn from peers, reduce administrative burden, and translate learning into better professional practice and patient care.
PAC members are invited to experience Vinea and this new approach to professional learning. As part of the launch, members will have access to a special introductory offer, providing an opportunity to explore the platform and begin building a more connected approach to continuing education and professional development. Learn more and get started at Vinea’s dedicated PAC member page.
Webinar: Healthcare Compliance Pros: Riding the Waves of Corporate Compliance
Last month, PAC hosted “Riding the Waves of Corporate Compliance,” a webinar with Healthcare Compliance Pros taking a closer look at corporate compliance requirements.
The webinar discussed topics including:
- Understanding and applying the elements of an effective Corporate Compliance Program and key Corporate Compliance activities
- Understanding and identifying Conflicts of Interest
- Identifying Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
- Understanding and identifying the Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law and violations
- Understanding California-specific Corporate Compliance Regulations.
To watch the full webinar recording, click here.
Join Us: Hooper, Lundy & Bookman (HLB) Virtual Office Hour, November 11
Following the engaging discussion at our first session, the Physician Association of California (PAC) and Hooper, Lundy & Bookman (HLB) are pleased to host a second free Virtual Office Hour on the legal and operational issues facing private practice physicians.
Click here for more information.
Join us on Wednesday, November 11 at 12:30pm PT for another interactive session with HLB attorneys Robert Miller and Cole Hoyt. They’ll answer your practice’s questions and offer practical guidance on topics such as labor and employment, operational compliance, and healthcare regulatory requirements. Whether you attended the first session or are joining for the first time, we welcome you.
This session is designed to help physicians understand their obligations and handle compliance challenges in day-to-day practice operations. It will cover general information and guidance on applicable laws and regulations, but it is not legal advice.
Come with questions and be ready to join the discussion. Space is limited, so click here to RSVP.
Check out the latest from PAC & Forth — PAC’s Official Podcast
The latest episode of PAC & Forth is live on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Buzzsprout and YouTube!
The podcast informs, connects, and amplifies the voice of California’s independent physician community. Please follow, subscribe, and share with colleagues to help amplify the voice of independent physicians across California.
Episode 15 features Dr. Michael Leathers, a second-generation orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician who runs his own practice in Midtown Sacramento. Dr. Leathers shares how he helps families keep young athletes healthy and why owning his own practice gives him the freedom to help his community.
To suggest a future podcast guest or topic, email info@pac-md.org.
To suggest a future podcast guest or topic, email info@pac-md.org.
Member Spotlight:
Dr. Join Luh
Dr. Join Luh is a radiation oncologist in private practice in Eureka and a member of PAC’s board of directors.
Q: Tell us about your practice and the community you serve.
Dr. Luh: We’re the only radiation oncology facility in our region, serving Humboldt, Trinity and Del Norte counties, with some patients coming from northern Mendocino and southern Oregon. For people living in the surrounding mountains and more rural communities, we serve as a regional medical center.
Q: Are there other areas where you see artificial intelligence (AI) helping or hurting your specialty?
Dr. Luh: About 10 years ago, futurists were telling medical students not to go into diagnostic radiology because AI would replace it within five years. Today, there’s an acute shortage of diagnostic radiologists. AI has not replaced them.
We face shortages in primary care, specialty care, nursing and technical roles, including radiation therapists, especially in rural areas. So much of that work requires direct patient care and human interaction that AI cannot provide. Patients don’t want to hear a cancer diagnosis from a chatbot.
We cannot lose sight of educating our children and creating a pipeline of people to fill these positions. AI can help with our work, but we still need a reliable healthcare workforce.
Q: On the flip side, what advances in AI might be most helpful to you?
Dr. Luh: The clicks, meaning all the steps it takes to get things done in an electronic health record. I still log into about five different platforms every morning. I used to ask my nurse to call in a prescription or my front desk to arrange an MRI. Now I have to go back to my computer and enter those orders myself. Those administrative tasks add to physicians’ workload and often follow us home.
I look forward to AI allowing me to delegate again: to communicate what a patient needs, like an MRI in three months, and have it handle the steps to put that order in.
Q: What guardrails should policymakers consider?
Dr. Luh: Human oversight needs to remain central. AI can lead patients and physicians toward the wrong diagnosis or workup. I’m not sure exactly how policymakers should structure those guardrails, but we cannot trust AI completely.
In radiation oncology, AI could shorten adjustments to a patient’s treatment plan from one or two days to about 15 minutes. But are those adjustments medically necessary, or are we using the technology simply because it exists? AI should help us work more efficiently while leaving those judgments to human beings.
Q: On the topic of general advocacy, you’ve been to Sacramento a few times over the last couple of years to meet with legislators and testify. What do you get out of that work?
Dr. Luh: I enjoy meeting people, including the lawmakers who affect so many parts of our lives. I believe they’re there to help people, and I feel a responsibility to help them understand how legislation could affect patients. It’s an opportunity to connect, share what we see in practice, and help them make informed decisions that benefit the people we care for.