August Recess 2026 – Grassroots Mobilization Challenge

In August, members of Congress return home to their districts during the congressional recess. During this time, ACP is calling on internal medicine physicians to engage their representatives on two important issues we need Congress to act on:

  1. Strengthening and stabilizing physician Medicare payments through supporting the Patients First Act of 2026, H.R. 9693. 
    TAKE ACTION Patients First Act of 2026
  2. Protecting physician access to visa programs through supporting the H-1Bs for Physician and the Healthcare Workforce Act, H.R. 7961
    TAKE ACTION H-1B Visas

See below for materials and details on these issues.

To incentivize participation in this grassroots mobilization, the Advocates for Internal Medicine Network is challenging members to see which states have the highest engagement.  Advocates can score points for their states by taking the following actions, with more time-intensive and impactful actions scoring more points:

Each person who emails their members of Congress through the August Recess action alert from a state5 points
Each person who calls their representative or Senators through the August recess action alert25 points
Each virtual or in-person meeting with a representative or Senator during the August recess100 points

For the purposes of the campaign, only activities taking place from July 31 to September 13 will be counted. The top-scoring states will be recognized at the fall Board of Governors meeting in Chicago and on ACP’s next state health policy webinar this fall. Any members who hold meetings with their members of Congress and complete the post-meeting questionnaire will also receive special recognition.

Materials

Contact Aleah Jensen with any questions about this campaign.