ASTRO recently signed onto three letters addressing concerns related to congressional Republicans' budget reconciliation bill and proposed NIH funding cuts. The first letter, which was sigend by over 30 physician specialty societies, outlined recommendations for the budget reconciliation bill pending in the Senate. In addition to addressing 2025 physician payment cuts, the letter urged the Senate to include a full annual adjustment to medical inflation. Furthermore, the letter opposed current provisions in the bill that would implement borrowing caps for federal student loans and result in millions of people losing their Medicaid coverage.

The second letter, which was also signed by over 30 physician groups, urged the Senate to restore the deduction for state-level pass-through entity taxes (PTET). Slated to be eliminated under the House-passed version of the reconciliation bill, this deduction allows private practices to deduct PTETs on their federal tax return. Eliminating this provision would result in substantial tax increases to small medical practices, despite similar protections being maintained for similarly sized businesses in other industries.

Signed by hundreds of organizations and individuals, the final letter urged congressional appropriations leadership to reject the draconian cuts to medical research in President Trump's FY26 budget request. The budget request would reduce funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by almost half. The letter specifically recommends $51.3 billion in FY26 funding for NIH in order to keep pace with urgent health needs and maintain America's competitive advantage.