December 2025
Senate Seeks to Move Forward on FY 2026 Funding Before End of Year
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) indicated that Senate leaders have made progress in negotiations on a “minibus” funding package that could be considered by the full Senate as soon as this week. The package would combine five fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations bills: Defense; Transportation-Housing and Urban Development; Interior-Environment; Commerce-Justice-Science; and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), which funds the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and most federal public health programs. The details of the minibus have not yet been released.
Even if the Senate advances the minibus, there is still not yet an agreement with the House, leaving a final deal unresolved with just over a month until the January 30 expiration of the short-term funding deal most of the federal government is currently operating under. Progress on a final deal will depend on talks between House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) and Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) on overall funding levels for the remaining FY 2026 bills.
ASH continues to lead advocacy on behalf of hematologists in Washington in support of federal research funding. Our advocacy is working Congress has thus far rejected the nearly 40 percent cut in NIH funding proposed by the President earlier this year. However, with Congress still seeking to finalize 2026 funding for NIH, we need you to continue to support this critical advocacy.
Please take a moment to visit the ASH Advocacy Center and to send a message to your elected officials about the importance of sustained funding for NIH. We encourage you to personalize the message and share how NIH funding has impacted your research and/or the way you care for your patients. This will not take much time but will have a huge impact.
ASH Sends Letter to CMS Leadership on Medical Frailty Exemptions for Medicaid Community Engagement Requirements
On November 24, the Society sent a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA, regarding the implementation of the community engagement requirements of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). The law requires states to impose community engagement requirements for adults in the Medicaid expansion population aged 19–64, where enrollees will be required to complete 80 hours of qualifying activities per month (i.e., work, community service, work program, half-time education, or income equivalent) to maintain their Medicaid eligibility.
Importantly, Congress considered the health care coverage needs of those living with serious medical conditions and provided for mandatory exceptions from these community engagement requirements to be further defined via regulation. ASH urged CMS to ensure that the exceptions are defined in a manner that protects those with serious and complex hematologic conditions who rely upon Medicaid coverage.Additionally, the Society recommended the administration ensures redetermination policies that do not create delays or barriers to timely access to care for those in excluded populations. ASH Joins 450 Organizations Advocating for a Long-Term Telehealth Fix
During the government shut down, telehealth services came to an abrupt halt. While Congress had previously stepped in with temporary extensions for telehealth flexibilities, failure to do so this year left many Americans without telehealth services and limited access to care during the shutdown period. The nature of temporary telehealth extensions have created instability for providers and patients, and ASH in coalition with other health care organizations, signed a letter urging Congress to act on a long-term telehealth fix in the next legislative package. Read the full letter here.
Telehealth continues to be a policy priority for ASH members, and the Society will continue to monitor and share updates on advocacy efforts.
ASH Comments for the December 2025 Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
On November 21, ASH submitted comments ahead of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' (ACIP) meeting on December 4–5. In the letter, ASH urged ACIP not to make changes to the child and adolescent vaccine schedule that could limit access for families who choose to vaccinate their children. The Society also encouraged ACIP to maintain the current protocol for the Hepatitis B vaccine. Despite these concerns, ACIP later voted to revoke its 35-year recommendation for universal newborn hepatitis B vaccination, a consequential decision expected to set back progress toward eliminating the disease. Read the full letter here.
ASH Joins AMA Letter Supporting the Senior's Timely Access to Care Act
On December 9, ASH joined the American Medical Association (AMA) in a letter of support to the sponsors of the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025 (H.R. 3514/S.1816). This bipartisan legislation aims to streamline and standardize prior authorization requirements within the Medicare Advantage program, addressing one of the most persistent barriers to timely, medically necessary care for America’s seniors. As part of ASH's ongoing advocacy work to improve prior authorization processes, the Society joined AMA’s House of Medicine in unified support of the legislation and has previously endorsed this legislation. Read the full letter here.
NIH Announces Emergency Modifications for Peer Review
In a November 24 blog post, Dr. Bruce Reed, Acting Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Scientific Review, shared updates on emergency modifications to NIH peer review. The blog noted that “NIH plans to review all applications submitted for the January 2026 Councils… and maintain the quality of review.” To address the backlog of applications scheduled for peer review, NIH will implement modifications that will remain in place through the May 2026 Advisory Council. The changes include a reduction in the percentage of applications discussed in most meetings; simplification of summary statements to include a sentence describing the degree of consensus in the committee vote, bullets describing the main score driving points, written critiques from the three assigned reviewers, and the overall impact score; and release of summary statements later in the Council round while continuing to release scores within three business days of the meeting.
NIH Announces Changes to Grant Submission Process
On December 3, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the elimination of two long-standing administrative steps for grant submissions. Effective immediately, applicants no longer need to submit Letters of Intent (LOIs) for any Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), and they no longer must contact an NIH Institute or Center (IC) before submitting unsolicited applications requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs. These changes, part of NIH’s broader effort to reduce burden and modernize peer review processes through the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), override all existing NOFO language requiring LOIs or pre-submission IC contact and will be reflected in upcoming updates to the NIH Application Guide and NIH Grants Policy Statement.
NIH Announces the Selection of Dr. Rick Woychik as Senior Advisor to the NIH Director for the 'Make America Healthy Again' Strategy
In a December 9 statement, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, announced that Richard Woychik, PhD, has been appointed Senior Advisor to the NIH Director for the Make America Healthy Again Strategy. In this role, he will support initiatives related to chronic disease, health resilience, and prevention strategies. Dr. Woychik previously served as Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program and held leadership positions at the Jackson Laboratory as well as in the biotechnology and academic sectors. Dr. Bhattacharya stated, “His experience, vision, and commitment to public health will be invaluable as we work together to improve the health of the nation.”