Statement attributable to:
Bobby Mukkamala, MD
President, American Medical Association

MAY 21, 2026

“Physicians are grateful that the House Ways and Means Committee took a major step in curing a flawed budget policy that results in physicians facing Medicare cuts every year. Without reform, the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule produces a year-end budget mashup that injects uncertainty in physician practices due to the requirement that the fee schedule remain budget neutral. These cuts threaten the viability of practices, especially in rural and underserved communities.

“Members of Congress are hearing from patients and physicians about the availability of quality healthcare. No doubt, that message is resonating; the committee unanimously supported HR  8163 (the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act).  The AMA thanks Reps. Greg Murphy, MD (R-NC) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) for their leadership on this important bipartisan effort. We look forward to working with Congress as this bill moves along. The vote today is an encouraging sign that meaningful budget neutrality reform is possible.”

Bobby Mukkamala, MD, a board-certified otolaryngologist—head and neck surgeon, was elected president of the American Medical Association in June 2025. A graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School, he is in solo, private practice in Flint, Mich.

Dr. Mukkamala, who has been active in the AMA since residency, is a past Michigan representative to the AMA Young Physicians Section, a past recipient of the AMA Foundation’s “Excellence in Medicine” Leadership Award and, for 13 years, served as a member of the Michigan delegation to the AMA House of Delegates. In 2009 he was elected to the AMA Council on Science and Public Health and served as its chair from 2016 to 2017.

In addition to his leadership roles at the AMA, Dr. Mukkamala has served as a member of the Michigan State Medical Society Board of Directors since 2011, as board chair for two years, and as its president. He is also a past president of the Genesee County Medical Society (GCMS) and continues to serve on the GCMS Board of Directors.

While a wide range of public health issues are important to Dr. Mukkamala, no issue strikes closer to home than his own city of Flint’s nationally publicized struggles with high levels of lead leaching into the drinking water. As the past chair of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, he and the foundation’s board became the clearinghouse for funding projects focused on mitigating the effects of lead in local children. He is a member of the board of the Foundation for Flint that is working to increase access to high-quality early education for children—a proven strategy for helping children who have been exposed to lead. He was also recently appointed as a trustee of the C.S. Mott Foundation, which is headquartered in Flint and promotes a just, equitable and sustainable society.

Deeply committed to the revitalization of his hometown, Dr. Mukkamala returned to Flint after completing his residency at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago in 2000. Today, he shares an office with his wife, Nita Kulkarni, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist. Together, they have been part of the city’s revitalization, including demonstrating their dedication to Flint by establishing the Endowed Health Professions Scholarships at the University of Michigan, Flint, in 2012.

Outside of medicine, Dr. Mukkamala enjoys tinkering with his car collection and spending time with family that includes twin sons, Deven, a PhD candidate in political philosophy at Duke University and Nikhil, a biomedical engineer.