As the appropriations bills make their rounds in Congress, radiology leaders have their eye on Washington, D.C. as healthcare takes center stage.
Congress has until September 30 to pass these spending bills to avoid a shutdown and keep government agencies funded through November 21. The American College of Radiology (ACR) in September issued a statement applauding imaging provisions recommended by the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations when it passed the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), federal fiscal year 2026 spending bill.
“Although this report language isn’t necessarily statutory, it does express the sentiment of what the committee was thinking,” said Dana Smetherman, MD, CEO of the ACR. “They also had wording about how important it is for imaging to be involved in a lot of the newer screening tools.”
The bill passed by the House committee includes a 7% cut to the Labor-HHS budget and allocates $100 million to the Make America Healthy Again Initiative. It also provides $48 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and includes funding for all 27 NIH institutes and centers. The bill does not implement President Donald Trump’s budget request to cut NIH funding to $27.5 billion.
Smetherman said the NIH funding being maintained should give research leaders a sigh of relief.
“It’s incredibly important, not just in radiology, but all across healthcare in the U.S.,” she said.
Dana Smetherman, MD, CEO of the ACR, discusses the impact of maintaining NIH funding in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), federal fiscal year 2026 spending bill.
The bill also contains language about the importance of medical imaging for diagnostic workup and disease characterization for clinical research.
“Imaging is a known necessity for a cancer diagnosis and treatment and should continue to hold a core function in the clinical trial process,” the bill’s report language states. “The Committee encourages NCI to include imaging technologies and tools in these clinical trials, as they are the essential component of each precise cancer diagnosis and help ensure patients receive the most effective and impactful care.”
The House bill also includes positive language supporting theranostics. The House committee encourages the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to support research that “utilizes theranostics, where appropriate, to provide early, accurate, and effective cancer diagnosis and treatment.”
“This technology allows for personalized treatment of cancers — such as thyroid cancer, prostate cancer, and neuroendocrine tumors — while sparing healthy tissue around the tumor,” the report language states. “Theranostics shows potential to advance the battle against cancer.”
Among other statements, the committee expressed concern about the “absence of modern diagnostic and imaging technologies” for men with advanced prostate cancer and encouraged research that “uses advanced technological imaging and precision medicine to generate data” on valvular heart disease. It also encouraged evaluating the feasibility of supporting the nationwide deployment and integration of mobile stroke units for on-site imaging, diagnosis, and treatment.
Smetherman said the ACR’s government relations staff will continue to work with Congress as debate over provisions within the bills are discussed and voted on.
“I think it’s very important for radiologists to be aware of what’s going on,” she said. “They [government relations staff] have really been invaluable.”
Smetherman talks about what the ACR will work on while the appropriations bills make their rounds in Congress.