The House of Representatives, on Dec. 10, voted 312-112 to pass the conference agreement for the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2026 (NDAA, S. 1071). While this compromise between the House and Senate versions of the bill primarily provides authorizations of appropriations and sets policies for the Department of Defense, it also addresses a number of provisions important to the academic medicine community.
Unlike previous iterations of the bill, the House-passed bill omits a provision that the higher education community expressed concern over for placing new prohibitions on research collaborations with Chinese universities. In a Nov. 18 letter to House and Senate Armed Services Committee leadership (PDF), the AAMC and 17 higher education organizations opposed the inclusion of the provision, emphasizing that it was “problematically broad as well as duplicative or existing requirements” [refer to Washington Highlights, Nov. 21].
The bill includes several AAMC-supported provisions addressing military health system staffing, including a five-year extension of the pause on medical billet reductions, the establishment of a military-civilian medical surge program, and modification to the reimbursement for specialty care at shorter distances [refer to Washington Highlights, Nov. 21]. The Senate is expected to consider the measure the week of Dec. 15.
- Washington Highlights