HHS Secretary RFK Jr. Targets AMA's $300M CPT Code Monopoly: What It Means for Medical Billing

On August 27, 2026, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released a video urging Americans to challenge the American Medical Association’s (AMA) long-standing control over medical billing codes. In a push for greater healthcare transparency, Kennedy directed patients, providers, and billing professionals to the Federal Register to submit public comments on the financial burden of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) licensing fees.

According to Kennedy, organizations across the U.S. healthcare system paid the AMA more than $300 million in 2025 just to use CPT codes. "Those costs don't disappear," Kennedy stated in the video, which was shared on the official HHS YouTube channel and the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Action account on X