Key 2025 Dates and Events for Pathologists to Watch

On January 3, the 119th Congress kicked off the start of the next legislative session with leadership elections in the House. Over the next several weeks, the CAP will be monitoring upcoming congressional events and legislative changes that will impact pathologists and laboratories. Key events include:

• Presidential Inauguration (January 20, 2025): President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office and the new administration begins.
• New Administration Activity: the CAP will track new executive orders and regulatory changes being offered by the new administration.
• Senate Confirmation of Administration Appointments: Numerous political appointments to agencies that oversee health care will occur in the Senate. The CAP will be watching these appointments to determine the impact on our agenda.
• Budget Reconciliation: Republicans in the House and Senate may attempt to pass policy priorities through the budget reconciliation legislative process, which would require a simple majority vote for passage. The GOP now has control of both chambers of Congress.
• March 14, 2025: The last spending bill passed by Congress and signed into law on December 21, 2024, keeps the government open through mid-March. Congress must pass a funding bill to avoid a government shutdown on March 14. The bill would be an opportunity for lawmakers to enact legislation to reverse Medicare payment cuts that has gone into effect for 2025. CAP members ended 2024 by advocating to stop cuts to Medicare payments. During the final weeks of the year, 775 CAP members took action: sending 2,602 messages to over 400 members of Congress.
• LDT lawsuit: The CAP will continue to provide members with updates on the lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its regulation on the oversight of laboratory-developed tests (LDTs). The case will likely be decided over the next several months.
• House of Delegates & Pathologists Leadership Summit 2025: The Spring House of Delegates meeting and Pathologists Leadership Summit will take place April 26-29. The final day will be our annual Hill Day where CAP members will directly lobby Congress to address adverse health care policies hurting pathology practices, laboratories, and patients.
• July 1, 2025: The proposed 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule will likely be released during the end of June/early July timeframe.

The CAP will continue to update members on legislative and advocacy issues moving forward.