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Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

REIMBURSEMENT:

2-Year Delay Possible For Steep Imaging Cuts

Published on Fri Jul 07, 2006

New bill offers solid alternatives to payment cuts.

Imaging scans such as CT angiography to examine heart arteries or PET/CT exams to pinpoint a tumor location could face cuts of approximately 50 percent next year, the American College of Radiology warned in a July 18 hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee.

Next year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed cutting imaging services to outpatient payment levels, paying only 50 percent for a second scan on a contiguous body part and restricting "self-referrals" when a physician owns off-site imaging equipment.

Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA) has introduced HR 5704, the "Access to Medicare Imaging Act of 2006," which would delay the imaging cuts for two years. The bill has 43 co-sponsors, including 15 members of the Health Subcommittee. At the hearing, subcommittee members talked about using standards, quality measures and pay-for-performance to reduce imaging costs instead of imposing cuts.
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