Update — April 1, 2026

I just sent a formal letter directly to the Healthcare Advisory Committee (HAC@cms.hhs.gov), Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Administrator Oz.

After more than 30 years as an independent neurologist managing Medicare patients with MS, Parkinson’s, epilepsy, dementia, and other chronic conditions, I had to speak up.

The 18-member panel announced on March 26–27 has zero practicing frontline private-practice physicians. None of the doctors on the committee are independent community physicians — they are all executives at large health systems, value-based care companies, or national associations. Roughly 250,000 independent physicians (about 25% of all U.S. doctors) are completely missing from the table.

During the COVID-19 era, this country would have been much better served by having a plethora of independent physicians and independent thinkers who didn’t just follow vaccine mandates from large hospitals and healthcare entities. I am a big believer in individual liberty, which is given to us in the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.

This omission hurts not only doctors but millions of Medicare patients. When independent practices close or stop accepting Medicare Advantage patients because of unsustainable administrative burdens and payment disparities, patients lose continuity of care, face longer travel times, and get stuck in shrinking networks.

I attached proof of the 1,187+ signatures on this petition.

You can read the full letter I sent today on my X thread here: https://x.com/STzorfas/status/2048893495172051265

Please also go to @STzorfas

See my Kevin MD podcast here: https://kevinmd.com/2025/10/why-bureaucracy-is-threatening-the-survival-of-private-practice-physicians-podcast.html

If you haven’t already signed, please do — and please share this petition widely with friends, family, and fellow patients and doctors. Every signature adds pressure and shows the committee that real frontline voices must be heard.

Thank you for standing with independent medicine and patient choice.

Scott D. Tzorfas, MD Independent Neurologist

P.S. Follow me on Instagram @tzorfasneurology