American College of Radiology touts key imaging provisions in House spending bill
The American College of Radiology is touting key imaging-related provisions in legislation recently passed by the House Appropriations Committee.
Lawmakers advanced the 2026 appropriations bill for Health and Human Services and other agencies by a 35-28 vote Tuesday. The measure would provide nearly $47 billion for the National Institutes of Health, rejecting a presidential request to slash the research funding agency down to $27.5 billion.
House lawmakers also provided a $100 million increase over current funding levels to the National Cancer Institute, up to $7.3 billion in 2026. In addition, the Office for Research on Women’s Health would see a $23.5 million increase, up to $100 million.
Medical imaging was highlighted in multiple portions of the bill, the American College of Radiology said, with lawmakers noting the importance of including such technology in clinical trials.
“The House Appropriations Committee report is correct that radiology exams are ‘essential components of cancer diagnosis and treatment’ and for other diseases, illnesses and injuries,” ACR CEO Dana Smetherman, MD, MPH, MBA, said in a statement Sept. 10. “We urge Congress to pass final legislation that reflects this approach and retains ACR-backed provisions that can save lives.”
The House bill also emphasized the importance of theranostics, a nuclear medicine combination of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures used to identify and treat diseases. This promising care approach has shown great potential in the fight against cancer, with the committee encouraging the National Cancer Institute to support research utilizing theranostics.
Susan G. Komen, a breast care advocacy group, also applauded the appropriations bill on Wednesday, citing increases for critical cancer programs and biomedical research. The House committee has included a $5.5 million increase in funding, up to $206.4 million total, for the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). This “vital” safety net program has provided access to breast health services for millions of women without adequate health insurance, Komen said. Since 1991, it has now served over 6.5 million women, helping diagnose 90,000 invasive breast cancer and 25,000 premalignant lesions.
Komen reported the National Institutes of Health would receive about $46.9 billion in base funding, representing a $99 million increase from FY25. This would include $7.3 billion for the National Cancer Institute, a $48 million uptick, while other related agencies would see their funding fall in 2026.
“While Komen applauds the committee’s support of NBCCEDP and NCI, we are disappointed that the bill also contains cuts which could harm public health and biomedical research,” SGK said in an announcement. “Komen urges the committee to reconsider the significant cuts to other critical programs under HHS including at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).”
Congress now has until Sept. 30 to pass an appropriations bill and avoid a government shutdown.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.