The American College of Radiology's 2026 Annual Meeting closes its last full day Tuesday in Washington with the helium-reserve push still in the room and no White House response on the table. [1] The meeting runs Saturday May 2 through Wednesday May 6 at the Washington Hilton; Tuesday is the day for the congressional-visit program and the final advocacy plenary.

The pricing context has hardened. Iranian strikes on Qatar at the start of the war took out roughly one-third of world helium production; medical-imaging-grade pricing has roughly doubled since February 2026, with merchant gas allocations now the operating reality for hospital imaging suites. [2] The Bureau of Land Management's strategic helium reserve was sold to Messer in 2024 and was not added back to the 2025 critical-minerals list. Project Vault — the administration's critical-supply revival package — skipped helium.

The paper's Monday brief noted that ACR's congressional-visit day was the natural forcing point and the meeting's clinical track gave no platform-level slot to helium supply. [3] Tuesday is that forcing point. Whether ACR's leadership produces a Project Vault amendment ask, a coalition resolution with AdvaMed, or another trade letter — the test closes with the meeting.

Philips's helium-free 3.0T MRI is a decade out from broad clinical deployment. The fleet now installed is the fleet that needs cryogen for the next ten years. The meeting that knows this best is again in Washington, and again leaves Wednesday without policy.

-- NORA WHITFIELD, Chicago