ACR Urges Conference Committee to Include H.R. 3269
On Friday, January 20, chairman of the American College of Radiology’s (ACR) Board of Chancellors, John Patti, MD, FACR, sent a letter to the House and Senate conferees urging the inclusion of H.R. 3269, the Diagnostic Imaging Services Access Protection Act, within a forthcoming, long-term Medicare proposal. More specifically, the letter urges inclusion of H.R. 3269 within conference committee legislation to address the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) cuts, continuation of the Payroll Tax holiday and extension of unemployment insurance benefits. Copies of the letter were also shared with Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate. Members of the bipartisan, bicameral Conference Committee are expected to meet on Tuesday, January 24, to begin deliberations for the first time since intense partisan disagreement surrounding these policies consumed Congress prior to the Christmas holiday.
Representative Dave Camp (R-MI), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, is expected to be the chairman of the Conference Committee and, at this early juncture, it is unclear what policies will be deemed germane to the negotiations. Yet, seven of the thirteen House conferees are cosponsors of H.R. 3269, budget neutral legislation which seeks to block the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from implementing a 25 percent multiple procedure payment reduction (MPPR) to the professional component of diagnostic imager services. The MPPR applies to a single radiologist interpreting multiple imaging studies administered to the same patient, in the hospital or office setting, on the same day. A list of the House and Senate Conference Committee participants can be found here. ACR members are encouraged to log onto action.acr.org to contact their Members of Congress to urge them to cosponsor H.R. 3269. Click here for a complete list of Members of Congress already cosponsoring H.R. 3269.
