Record Numbers Attending Mid-Year Forum 2021

Friday and Saturday, 700 Academy and AAOE^® members are attending Mid-Year Forum 2021, the Academy’s most important annual meeting on health care politics and policies and their effect on practice management.

The Academy's young ophthalmologists have been posting #WhyMYF2021 videos to encourage their colleagues to participate.

Highlights of Mid-Year Forum 2021 include:

• A hearing on the future for physician payment, including the effect of budget neutrality rules on Medicare, which has led to infighting in the house of medicine. Academy physician leaders will participate in a conversation with U.S. Reps. Larry Bucshon, MD, R-Ind., and Ami Bera, MD, D-Calif.; American Medical Association President Susan R. Bailey, MD; and Christian Shalgian, division director of the American College of Surgeons.
• A session on how medicine will be affected by the new administration in Washington, D.C., and the new Congress — with Democrats holding razor-thin margins. Academy advocacy physician leaders will be joined by leaders in health care policy consulting and Shawn Bishop, the Senate finance committee’s chief health adviser.
• A conversation between Academy President Tamara R. Fountain, MD, and Yale University social scientist Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, about the pandemic. Dr. Christakis is the author of “Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live.”

Mid-Year Forum has traditionally been held every April — usually during cherry blossom time — in Washington, D.C., and is normally coupled with Congressional Advocacy Day. Due to the pandemic, the events are virtual this year, and Congressional Advocacy Day will be held separately on May 5.

Mid-Year Forum registration closes at 8 a.m. PT, Friday, and Congressional Advocacy Day registration closed last month. Follow the Academy’s coverage of both events on AAO.org and on Twitter at #myf2021.