AASM Legislative and Policy Agenda
The AASM advocates on wide-ranging legislative and policy priorities that advance sleep care and enhance sleep health to improve lives. This agenda provides a general framework for the current AASM advocacy priorities but is not an exhaustive list.
Federal Initiatives
Permanent Standard Time
The AASM supports legislation, based on our position statement, that would establish permanent standard time nationwide and advocates against permanent daylight saving time. Permanent standard time is the optimal choice for health and safety. The AASM is a founding member of the Coalition for Permanent Standard Time.
Permanent Standard Time Toolkit (link to toolkit)
Tell your legislators to support permanent standard time (link to coalition take action page)
Current Federal Standard Time/Daylight Saving Time Legislation (link to current legislation page)
Prior Authorization
The AASM collaborates with the American Medical Association (AMA) on efforts to reform the prior authorization process and advocates for payers to change sleep-specific prior authorization policies that ignore the clinical expertise of sleep clinicians, overrule their clinical decision-making, and force some patients with sleep disorders to receive inadequate care.
Prior Authorization Toolkit (link to toolkit)
Current Federal Prior Authorization Legislation (link to current legislation page)
Medicare Coverage for PAP Devices
The AASM supports revisions to the CMS national coverage determination (NCD 240.4) and local coverage determination (LCD L33718) for positive airway pressure (PAP) for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that would address the most problematic components, including the 90-day adherence rule for continued coverage, the adherence definition, the hypopnea definition, and the requirement for unnecessary repeat testing.
Physician Reimbursement for Sleep Services
The AASM advocates for adequate reimbursement for sleep services from CMS and other payers. When physicians are not adequately paid for sleep services, the ability to continue practicing medicine and operating sleep practices is negatively impacted leading to decreased access to sleep care.
Physician Payment Toolkit (Link to toolkit)
Tell your legislators to support physician payment reform (link to take action page)
Current Federal Physician Payment Legislation (link to current legislation page)
Expansion of Telemedicine Coverage
The AASM supports efforts to expand permanent coverage of telemedicine services by public and private payers, whether through regulation or legislation. Telemedicine expands patient access to care and is uniquely suited to the needs of patients with sleep disorders.
Telemedicine Toolkit (link to toolkit)
Current Federal Telemedicine Legislation (link to current legislation page)
Sleep in Public Health
The AASM urges legislators, policy makers, and insurers to make sleep health a critical component of strategies to improve the health of our nation. Promotion of the importance of sleep and treatment of sleep disorders in national programs will help to combat chronic disease among children, adolescents, and adults in the United States.
Learn more (link to sleep for a stronger nation page)
Sleep Research Funding
The AASM joins the Sleep Research Society (SRS) in advocating for increased federal funding for sleep and circadian research. The AASM recognizes the importance of maintaining robust federal funding for research. One of the main pathways for sleep researchers to receive funding is through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH annually awards more than 57,000 research and training grants that support approximately 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 universities and organizations in every state. This work creates the foundation for informed, impactful, and cost-effective health care.
Drowsy Driving
The AASM supports legislation to mandate screening, testing, and treatment for sleep disorders among commercial operators to address sleep-related safety concerns.
Congressional Sleep Health Caucus
The AASM recruits members of Congress to join the Sleep Health Caucus and assists in organizing caucus meetings and events to help advance these advocacy priorities.
Sleep Health Caucus Toolkit (link to toolkit)
State Initiatives
Scope of Practice
What procedures health care professionals can perform is dependent on their scope of practice, which is defined by either their state medical board, dental board, nursing board, etc., often with the guidance or instruction (via statute) of the state’s legislature. Non-physician practitioners increasingly render services autonomously, particularly in rural and underserved areas, to make up for provider shortages. State legislators and other state health policymakers consider a broad range of issues related to scope of practice, including supervision requirements, prescriptive authority and other requirements for practice.
The AASM advocates for state dental boards to adopt policies that align with the AASM position statement, “Clinical Use of a Home Sleep Apnea Test,” and the AMA policy, “Appropriate Use of Objective Tests for Obstructive Sleep Apnea H-35.963.”
Elimination of Daylight Saving Time
The AASM supports efforts to establish permanent standard time at the state-level as under current federal law, states can choose to establish permanent standard time.
Permanent Standard Time Toolkit (link to toolkit)
Support state standard time legislation (link to coalition take action)
Current State Standard Time/Daylight Saving Time Legislation (link to current legislation page)
School Start Times
The AASM supports legislation for later middle school and high school start times, based on our position statement, using California SB-328 as a model. Later school start times allow middle and high school students to get adequate sleep for academic and athletic performance, safety, health and wellbeing.
School Start Times Toolkit (link to toolkit)
Current State School Start Time Legislation (link to current legislation page)
Workforce Development
The AASM supports legislation and policy that allows for the growth of the field of sleep medicine, including improved licensure and educational requirements for sleep technologists and increased GME funding.
Current State Workforce Development Legislation (link to current legislation page)
Sleep Health Awareness
The AASM supports the inclusion of sleep and sleep disorders awareness in state health department public health messaging and campaigns.
Current State Sleep-related Public Health Legislation (link to current legislation page)
Other Advocacy Priorities:
- Stark Law
- Maintenance of Certification (link to archived MOC page)
- Veterans’ Sleep Health
Updated October 2026