Utah Governor's Newsletter December 2025
In this Issue:
- Message from the Governor: #IMProud and Health Insurance Marketplace Woes
- Committee Updates
- Medical Student & Resident Activities - Lumbar Puncture Activity & the Clinical Vignette Competition
- Meeting / Event Spotlight - March 12-13, 2026 Utah Scientific Meeting
- Advocacy & Policy Updates - ACP has updated flu vaccine recommendations
- Member Spotlight - Thien Do is our new Social Media Communications Coordinator
- Calendar & Announcements - Join US!
- Leadership Roster
Mary D. Tipton, MD, FACP, ACP Governor
Message from the Governor: #IMProud and Health Insurance Marketplace Woes
Congratulations on making it to December 2025! I hope this year has been all you hoped for and if not you have a few more weeks to accomplish your goals.
During 2025 the Utah Chapter of the ACP has been hard at work advocating for physicians and patients in the state of Utah and beyond. It is a critical time for all physicians, but especially Internal Medicine physicians to stand up and declare our worth. As specialists in Internal Medicine, we are uniquely positioned to be masters of complexity, to lead healthcare teams and shine in our expertise at the foundation of clinical care. There are many forces seeking to devalue a physician's role as the highest trained clinician at the bedside. We must speak up with confidence, knowing that although we value all members of the healthcare team, there is no substitute for a trained Internist.
As anyone looking at health insurance premiums for 2026 knows, our patients and their employers are seeing how unaffordable our health insurance marketplace has become. Since the ACA was implemented almost 15 years ago, the insurance premiums have tripled. Our government has used subsidies to mask the true cost of these plans, funneling billions to increasingly consolidated and powerful insurance companies who respond by increasing their premiums even more. Some temporary ACA subsidies are set to expire Dec 31, 2025, further exposing our patients to the massive cover charge of an insurance plan. I call it a cover charge because the average premium cost for a family of $25,000 is merely the price they must pay to enter the insurance market. Then comes the deductible and cost sharing.
The calls to my direct care practice have increased and the patients calling are opting out of the marketplace plans. Direct care provides direct access for a transparent monthly fee. This is a great option for primary care but does not negate the need for at least catastrophic insurance for high priced and rare events such as accidents and those with complex chronic diseases. It is increasingly evident that coverage does not equal care. Many in 2026 and beyond will be without coverage, but can we provide them with healthcare?
I will be watching with interest what our leaders in Washington DC propose. Some believe that putting more tax dollars into the system is the answer. Others believe that will throw more money after bad and the subsidies will further distort the market and misalign incentives. I believe we need an off ramp with short term subsidy extensions and a plan to put the power back into the hands of our patients and physicians. This will require significant policy changes, price transparency and deregulation. When someone else is paying, the patient (and the physician) lose power, and the third party interferes with the physician-patient relationship.
And that sacred healing relationship is the whole reason I am in this to begin with.
Thank you for all that you do every day to help your patients. You are appreciated and you are needed.
Committee Updates
Scientific Program Committee
The 2025 Utah Chapter meeting was held March 6-7 at the University Marriott in Salt Lake City. Altogether we welcome over a hundred attendees representing every facet of internal medicine including primary care physicians, hospitalists, subspecialists, residents, and medical students. We are so grateful to Dr. Charlene Dewey, MD, MEd, MACP, who delivered a wonderful keynote address on physician burnout and finding meaning in our work.
As one chapter meeting ends, the preparation for the next chapter meeting begins. The Scientific Meeting Committee has already been hard at work planning next year's meeting, which will be held on March 12-13, 2026 at the Doty Education Center at Intermountain Medical Center conveniently located right off I-15 and the Murray Central Station of the FrontRunner.
The keynote speaker for our 2026 meeting will be Dr William Fox, MD, MACP, of Charlottesville, VA. Dr Fox who is the Immediate Past Chair of the American College of Physicians Board of Regents, and he will be discussing “Why Doctors Get Paid What They Get Paid” and how this relates to the primary care shortage. The meeting will feature a number of other informative talks on topics including Use of Point of Care Ultrasound in Gout Diagnosis, Artificial Intelligence, Obesity Hypoventilation, Ophthalmology for the Internist, and Care of the Incarcerated Patient. Up to 7 hours of CME/MOC credit will be available.
The Scientific Committee extends its heartfelt thanks to a pair of members who have contributed greatly to the committee for many years and have now moved on to pursue other leadership opportunities – Rachel Kroencke, MD, FACP and Nathan Allred, MD, FACP.
The Scientific Committee is actively recruiting ACP members who would be interested in participating in the planning and organization of the annual meeting. It is a great way to be involved with the ACP, shape the content and experience of the meeting, and build experience in leadership, event planning, and continuing medical education. Hospitalists, primary care physicians, and subspecialists are all welcome to apply. The time commitment consists of 6-8 virtual planning meetings throughout the year and assistance with set-up / tear down of the meeting. Please contact the Utah ACP Chapter with any questions or to express interest at contact@utahacp.com.
Wellness & Professional Development – New Committee Chairs
We are very excited to announce two new co-chairs for our Well Being Committee. Brianna Chessman MD and Gab Langmann MD graciously agreed to help us learn as they learn from the ACP robust curriculum to become our Well Being Champions. I am looking forward to their involvement with our chapter. Programming for our student and resident physicians is planned for 2026. In 2027 they will start a three-year Leadership training for Well Being Champions. The resources offered by ACP are truly unmatched. They welcome additional members of their committee so reply to this newsletter if you would like to be involved.
Medical Student & Resident Activities - Lumbar Puncture Activity & the Clinical Vignette Competition
Our Utah Internal Medicine Interest Group sponsored a recent activity teaching lumbar puncture. We are lucky enough to have three active IMIG in Utah. Enjoy the pictures from this recent event.
In November ACP sponsored a clinical vignette competition at the University of Utah. The competition was fierce and our winner Jackson Burton MD won a trip to San Francisco for our national meeting in 2026! Congratulations to all our finalists and to our Resident / Fellow Committee for engaging the most submissions ever.
Meeting / Event Spotlight - March 12-13, 2026 Utah Scientific Meeting
Join your internal medicine colleagues at the ACP Utah Chapter Scientific meeting March 12-13, 2026, at the Intermountain Medical Center Doty Education Center.
The resident/student poster competition will be held the evening of March 12 along with a keynote address by Dr. William Fox. The Scientific meeting will be held on March 13. Register Here
Advocacy & Policy Updates - ACP has updated flu vaccine recommendations
Unsure about influenza vaccine recommendations this winter? ACIP / CDC causing confusion?
ACP has you covered.
Click HERE for rapid practice points to help identify the appropriate influenza vaccines for adult patients who are not pregnant or immunocompromised to provide guidance to physicians and patients
Member Spotlight - Thien Do is our new Social Media Communications Coordinator
Thien Do is a medical student member of the Utah chapter of ACP at Noorda COM. She has amazing skills with social media and I am happy to report she is the new Social Media communications coordinator in our chapter. I am confident she will expand the chapter's reach online via social media platforms by providing chapter updates, highlighting ACP news and resources, and encouraging participation in ACP events.
We encourage you to click right now on these links, like and share the content with your colleagues.
Our Instagram
Our Facebook
Calendar & Announcements - Join US!
UMA Doctor's Day on the Hill Feb 2, 2026 - State Capitol
Spring Poster Competition March 12, 2026 - Intermountain Medical Center
UT Chapter Scientific Meeting: March 12-13, 2026 - Intermountain Medical Center
ACP National Spring Meeting: April 16-18, 2026 - San Francisco, California
Leadership Day: May 12-13, 2026 - Washington DC
Leadership Roster
Mary Tipton, MD – Governor
Eric Moore, MBBS – Treasurer
Membership & Outreach Committee
Jennifer Scott MD - Chair
Amy Cowan, MD - Vice Chair
Early Career Physician Committee
Landon Dickson MD – Chair
Health & Public Policy Committee
Harris Carmichael MD - Chair
Resident & Fellow Committee
David Chen, MD – Chair
Adeline H Browne, MD- Vice Chair
Medical Student Affairs Committee
Lara Hayes, MD – Co-Chair
Alekses Clifton, MD – Co-Chair
Scientific Program Committee
Aaron Crosby, MD – Chair
Well Being Committee
Brianna Chessin MD - Co-Chair
Gabrielle Langmann MD - Co-Chair
Social Media Communications Coordinator
Thien Do MSII - Noorda COM
Contact: contact@utahacp.com