Board of Directors Joins Medical, Health Coalition Calling for Resignation of HHS Secretary
The ATS Board of Directors voted on Sept. 18, 2025 to join the Infectious Diseases Society of America and more than 20 national and 80 regional medical, scientific, public health, and patient organizations to call for the resignation of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ensure the health of the American people.
The ATS recognizes and respects that each administration has new policy priorities, including those that aim to improve the health and well-being of the American people. However, ignoring scientific evidence and basing public health policies on discredited scientific theories is a disservice to any administration and the American public. As scientists, physicians, and public health professionals, we must speak out. This is not a decision that the ATS board makes lightly. Learn more.
CLINICAL PRACTICE
ATS/CHEST Comments on Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
The ATS and CHEST recently submitted joint comments on the proposed Medicare rules: the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. In the joint comments, ATS and CHEST recognized the recent Congressional action to provide one-year temporary relief to projected cuts on the Medicare conversion factor but noted the physician update calculations remain fundamentally flawed and require urgent action by the administration and Congress to develop an enduring solution to ensure fair and appropriate physician payment updates going forward.
The letter also noted our continued concerns with CMS’s unfair payment policy for subsequent critical care (CPT 99292). ATS and CHEST hope CMS will address this problem in future rule making.
The joint comment letter also encouraged CMS to ensure telemedicine services continue to be widely accessible for Medicare beneficiaries.
CMS is expected to issue the final 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule by Dec. 1, 2025. The ATS and CHEST will hold a webinar for members in 2026 to discuss key policy changes in the final rule.
TOBACCO CONTROL
ATS Comments on FDA Proposal or Low Nicotine Combustible Cigarette
This week the American Thoracic Society joined the American Lung Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics in submitting joint comments on the FDA's proposed rule to issue a very low nicotine product standard for combustible cigarettes. The letter made several key points on the FDA's proposal including calling for a nicotine product standard for all tobacco products - not just combustible cigarettes. The letter made recommendations on setting nicotine concentration limits on combustible cigarettes, as well as developing an effective monitoring and enforcement strategy for low nicotine combustible cigarettes, and reminded the agency of the urgent need for FDA-approved nicotine cessation products for children and adolescents.
The joint letter is in response to a proposed rule issued during the Biden administration to use the FDA’s tobacco regulatory authority to create a very low nicotine product standard for combustible cigarettes. While the Trump Administration is moving forward with a public comment period on the proposed rule it is unclear whether the they intend to move forward with a very low nicotine product standard for combustible cigarettes.
ATSC[DM1] [MW2] will closely monitor this rulemaking process and will continue to advocate for effective tobacco control on all nicotine products.
RESEARCH
House Appropriations Committee Provide NIH Increase
Earlier this month, the House Appropriations Committee passed its version of the fiscal year 2026 Labor Health and Human Services (LHHS), an education appropriations bill providing funding for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the rest of the public health service. The Committee provided a $99 million increase for NIH - rejecting the White House’s proposed nearly 40 percent cut in NIH funding. The House did include significant cuts to the CDC including the elimination of funding for climate programs.
Earlier this year, the Senate passed its version of the bill providing a $400 million increase for NIH and included language protecting the NIH from the administration's efforts to reduce the number of institutes.
It is unlikely that either chamber will pass a free standing LHHS appropriations bill so attention now turns to passing a continuing resolution to provide funding for all federal programs until a larger budget deal can be reached. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on a clean continuing resolution [DM3] [MW4] that provides level funding for all federal programs through Thanksgiving. It is unclear if the Democrats will accept this offer or instead try to use the appropriations process to restore the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits for the purchase of health insurance.
The ATS will continue to advocate for robust funding of the National Institutes of Health, the CDC, and other public health programs.
Legal Process Win Challenging the Reorganization and Staff Firings at Department of Health and Human Services
This week, a Circuit Court judge in Boston denied the administration's appeal to strike the injunction preventing the administration from moving forward with significant reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services. The injunction issued by the lower court - in the case New York v RFK Jr - immediately stopped the administration's effort at reducing staff levels or eliminating programs within Department of Health and Human Services, including NIH, CDC, and other programs in the U.S. Public Health Services.
Earlier this summer, the ATS joined several other medical professional organizations in an amicus brief supporting the case brought by New York and other states challenging the administration’s authority to make radical changes to the Department of Health and Human Services absent Congressional approval. A lower court judge in Rhode Island ruled in favor of the state of New York stating the administration did not have the authority to overhaul the HHS without congressional authorization. The court issued a temporary injunction preventing any further reorganization efforts by the administration. Unsurprisingly, the administration challenged the Rhode Island judge decision at the appeals court. The appeals court rejected the administration’s request and the temporary injunction remains in effect until a full hearing of the case and decision can be rendered.
ATS Joins Community Letter Urging Congress to Fund NIH
This week, the ATS joined over 100 medical and scientific organizations in a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to provide funding for the National Institutes of Health. Specifically, the letter asks the leaders of the House and Senate to provide “at least $48.7 billion in funding for NIH in fiscal year 2026 (FY 26), and to ensure that any appropriations bill or continuing resolution is free from harmful policy riders.”
The letter cautions Congress not to adopt policy to require forward funding of grants, ensure full Congressional debate on any restructuring of the NIH or take unilateral action on facilities and