House Spending Bill Emphasizes Importance of Medical Imaging

The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations voted Sept. 9, to advance its Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), federal fiscal year (FY) 2026 spending bill and accompanying report language. The bill includes a 7% cut to the Labor-HHS budget and allocates $100 million to the Make America Healthy Again Initiative.

The bill provides $48 billion for NIH and includes funding for all 27 of its institutes and centers, maintaining current funding levels and not implementing the President’s Budget Request to cut NIH funding to $27.5 billion. Although the Appropriations Committee bill does not reflect the president’s request to restructure NIH to eight institutes and centers, it includes language that commends the president’s proposal and says any restructuring would need to go through the Committee on Energy and Commerce, not the Appropriations Committee.

The House LHHS bill would fund NIH to almost the level of the Senate’s LHHS bill of $48.7 billion. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), currently funded at $7.2 billion, would receive funding increases in both the House and Senate bills; the House would provide $7.3 billion in FY 2026, and the Senate proposes $7.4 billion. The bill also includes an increase to the Office for Research on Women’s Health, providing $100 million, an increase of $23.5 million. While the Senate maintained level funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) at $1.5 billion, the House cut funding to $945 million.

During the committee process to make changes to the bill, several members of Congress expressed concerns about the bill’s reduction of a variety of HHS programs, including smoking cessation programs and the ties to lung cancer rates. Support was expressed for graduate medical education programs, specifically in rural communities, and there was mention of the shortage of physicians nationwide, including specialty physicians. Additionally, medical imaging was highlighted in multiple portions of the bill’s report language, including under the National Cancer Institute:

Medical Imaging Technologies in Cancer Screening Trials. — The Committee supports the establishment of clinical trials conducted by the NCI to assess the potential role of blood tests to detect cancer in the body. Medical imaging, as a means of conducting diagnostic workup following a positive assay and as a method for disease characterization, is essential to this clinical trial and assessment process. 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 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 and educating on the nuclear medicine technique of theranostics:

Theranostics. — Theranostics is a nuclear medicine technique that combines diagnostic imaging and targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies to precisely identify and treat diseases like cancer. This technology allows for personalized treatment of cancers—such as thyroid cancer, prostate cancer, and neuroendocrine tumors—while sparing healthy tissue around the tumor. Theranostics shows potential to advance the battle against cancer. The Committee encourages NCI to support research that utilizes theranostics, where appropriate, to provide early, accurate, and effective cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass FY 2026 appropriation bills and keep the government open. The final FY 2026 bill for NIH may not reflect the House’s funding proposals for NIH; the House and Senate will need to negotiate a consensus version of bills, including a final allocation to NIH and additional federal agencies.

For more information or if you have questions, contact Katie Grady, ACR® Government Affairs Director.