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February entered the chat loud!

The second month of 2026 marked the 100-year celebration of Black History Month. But as exciting as that was, it still wasn’t the headline that almost brought me to tears. Because while we were celebrating culture, creativity, and expansion, something else happened quietly but powerfully in Washington D.C.

Congress restored funding for multiple sclerosis research.

And for anyone living with MS — or loving someone who is — that is not just a policy update. That’s oxygen. I don’t know about y’all, but I was truly worried this funding was going to get cut, and along with it, the vitality of so many of our friends and family members.

On Feb. 3, Congress approved a bipartisan fiscal year funding package that included $15 million for the Multiple Sclerosis Research Program through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.

Last year, that funding disappeared. This year, it came back. That reinstatement is not symbolic. It directly supports research into the mechanisms of MS, progression pathways, and potential therapeutic breakthroughs. For a disease that still has no cure, research dollars are essential.

Structural change sustains long-term policy

The package also included a $415 million increase for the National Institutes of Health, protections that allow the agency to continue operating at full capacity, early steps toward Pharmacy Benefit Manager reform, and an extension of telehealth access for Medicare beneficiaries. I for one think this is wonderful because this new allowance extends access to so many who may not have otherwise had it.

None of these policies are flashy. But they are structural. And structural change is what sustains long-term progress. National advocacy organizations and long-standing MS policy coalitions carried much of that work through sustained outreach, meetings, testimony, and negotiation.

But Congress responding — especially in a bipartisan way — signals something significant: MS research remains on the federal radar.

There is, however, a reality embedded in the celebration. This funding runs through Sept. 30. Fiscal year funding means annual renewal. It means that in a matter of months, these conversations will begin again. Budget negotiations will reopen. Allocations will be debated. Priorities will be re-evaluated.

This is the rhythm of federal policy.

Momentum requires awareness

For nearly 1 million people in the United States living with MS, research funding is not an abstract political talking point. It determines whether trials move forward. Whether labs stay open. Whether new remyelination targets get explored. Whether progression can one day be slowed or even reversed.

February showed momentum. But momentum in chronic illness advocacy is rarely permanent. It requires repetition. It requires awareness. It requires voices willing to speak before funding disappears — not after.

As we move toward the next budget cycle in September, the opportunity is not just to celebrate what passed, but to stay engaged in what comes next. Because research doesn’t advance on hope alone. It advances on policy.

And policy moves when people pay attention and fight for what they know is right. Call your Congressman or Congresswoman, call your representatives, call your local leaders, call anyone and advocate for this funding. Our entire community depends on it and your voice can make all the difference.