On July 24, the Endocrine Society and the American Heart Association hosted an in-person educational briefing, “Obesity and Heart Health titled “Beyond the Scale: How GLP-1 Medications are Redefining Obesity and Heart Health” for congressional staff. Endocrine Society members Jonathan Purnell, MD and Joshua Joseph, MD explained what obesity is, how GLP-1 medications work, and the link between obesity and cardiovascular disease. The briefing was widely attended by congressional staff on both sides of the aisle and provided an opportunity for us to present scientific information to help education policy makers and influence their positions. In April, the Society updated our “Obesity Playbook,” an educational resource guide for congressional offices on obesity prevention, research, and treatment. The Playbook provides “101” information on obesity for congressional staff to help them work on the issue and respond to constituent questions. The briefing and playbook are two components of the Society’s Obesity Education Initiative. The initiative includes educational briefings for Members of Congress and other policymakers on obesity, media resources including podcasts and science writer conferences, and other educational materials.
Funding for the NIH is in danger: funds appropriated for research by Congress are not being released, the NIH is developing major restructuring plans without transparency, and the President's budget for FY26 proposes a 40% cut to NIH. Currently, delays and disruptions to grant review persist; many researchers are unable to draw down funds, and over $2 billion in grants have been cancelled outright.
The Endocrine Society is urging Congress to protect the NIH now and provide the NIH with at least $51.303 billion in the next fiscal year. On July 24, Endocrine Society staff took part in the Coalition for Health Funding’s Capitol Hill Day. Please take a moment to amplify our message by joining in our online advocacy campaign or share your story about how funding cuts are affecting your research.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the annual Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed rule for calendar year 2026. This rule updates payment policies and payment rates for Part B services furnished under the MPFS, as well as makes changes to the Quality Payment Program (QPP).
CMS estimates that the policies, if implemented, will result in a 3% increase in total Medicare charges for endocrinology. However, CMS proposes to change the methodology for the allocation of indirect practice expenses (PE) within the physician payment formula, which will decrease overall charges for endocrinology in the facility setting by 10% but increase payments by 6% in the non-facility (office) setting. According to the agency, this change in allocation is part of a broader effort to equalize payment rates across care settings. The rule also proposes changes to make telehealth delivery more efficient. The agency proposes to simplify the review process for adding services to the Medicare Telehealth Services List, and to remove the distinction between provisional and permanent services. Finally, the rule notes that several CPT codes used for fine needle aspiration (FNA) services have been nominated as misvalued, but the agency does not agree that these codes are misvalued noting that they have indicated this in previous rulemaking. A summary and analysis with more details about what is included in the proposed rule is available on the Endocrine Society’s website.
Every year, CMS requests feedback on its proposed changes, and the Endocrine Society responds by submitting a comment letter to the agency. The Endocrine Society will work with the Clinical Affairs Core Committee (CACC) to review and develop comments for CMS to consider while finalizing the rule. Comments to the proposed rule are due on September 12th.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently notified the research community of two policy updates that may be of interest to member scientists:
We rely on your voice to advocate for our policy priorities. Join us to show our strength as a community that cares about endocrinology. Contact your US representatives or European Members of Parliament through our online platform. Take action and make a difference today.
