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September 26, 2026

Takeaways from the most recent news in the technology and policies shaping healthcare.

Government

Stopgap Funding Bill Delays Grant Rule Opposed by Hospitals

By Healthcare Technology News ·

Congress has passed a short-term spending bill that keeps the federal government funded through Dec. 11 and temporarily blocks a proposed federal grant rule that hospitals warned could threaten their funding, according to Becker's Hospital Review. The House cleared the continuing resolution on Sept. 1 in a 370-48 vote after the Senate approved it 90-6 in August. The measure now heads to President Donald Trump.

The American Hospital Association had raised concerns about the proposed grant rule, and the stopgap language pauses it, at least until the new December deadline. That gives hospitals and their advocates a window to push back before the rule can take effect.

In practice, the reprieve is temporary. A continuing resolution funds agencies at existing levels without resolving underlying budget fights, setting up another deadline in December when the grant rule and broader appropriations questions return. Hospital finance teams should treat the delay as a pause, not a resolution.

Sources

More in Government

Government

AMA, AHA Push to Exempt Doctors From $103K H-1B Fee

The AMA and AHA are asking DHS to exempt clinicians from a proposed $103,265 H-1B visa fee they say would gut physician recruiting in underserved areas.

Why it matters: Hospitals depend on foreign-trained physicians to staff rural and underserved communities, and a six-figure visa fee could deepen existing shortages.

Government

DOJ Accuses UCSF Medical School of Racial Discrimination

The DOJ's Civil Rights Division accused UCSF's medical school of race-based discrimination in admissions from 2023 to 2025, the latest in a wave of federal findings against medical schools.

Why it matters: Federal scrutiny of medical school admissions could reshape how the next generation of physicians is selected and the diversity of the clinical workforce.

Government

Experts Shift Suicide Prevention Toward Limiting Gun Access

Mental health experts are pushing suicide prevention toward broadly limiting firearm access, arguing individual risk prediction is unreliable.

Why it matters: Firearms drive most US suicide deaths, so means restriction could save more lives than screening tools that struggle to predict who is at risk.