As the next Congress and president debate how to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the American Medical Association (AMA) finds itself in a weakened position to offer the physician's perspective to healthcare reform.

STAT reports the AMA’s clout had already been reduced before Donald Trump won the presidential election. While it’s still the largest physician lobbying group, counting around 25 percent of practicing doctors as members, that number has fallen from its 1950s height of 75 percent.

More may defect thanks to the AMA’s quick support of Trump’s pick to run HHS, U.S. Rep. Tom Price, MD, R-Georgia, which led to a backlash from a separate group, the 10,000-member National Physicians Alliance, and AMA members.

“Doctors are disorganized, and it’s a shame because we seriously need physician leadership to inject some sort of moral authority into [this] debate,” said Robert Berenson, MD a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. “This is a real litmus test for the AMA. Do they have the will and the fortitude to step up and oppose rolling back all the progress we have made, or will they be accommodating and quiescent?”

For more on the divide between AMA’s historically conservative views and recent liberal shift, click on the link below: