Imaging Under Attack

As you may know, the 109th Congress adjourned on Dec. 9, 2006 without enacting legislation to delay the technical component reimbursement cuts to imaging services provided in the office setting. H.R. 5704 and S. 3795, the Access to Medicare Imaging Act of 2006, was left on the table as Congress left town for the year.

Throughout the year, the ACR worked with lawmakers to delay the cuts in order to fully assess their impact on practices and patient access, gaining 165 bipartisan cosponsors of H.R. 5704 and S. 3795. In the final weeks of the Congressional session, the ACR and its allies in Congress were pushing for a meaningful policy that focused on patient safety, quality standards and appropriateness criteria in order to provide an avenue for physicians to be exempt from the cuts, provided they meet certain standards. While unsuccessful in efforts to delay the cuts, the ACR and its allies were successful in highlighting the importance of quality standards for delivering imaging services to Medicare beneficiaries.

The rising cost of imaging to the Medicare program will remain under a microscope and the Administration and some in Congress will attempt to further reduce reimbursements for imaging services. The ACR will oppose such reductions and work during the coming year to promote sensible and reasonable reimbursement policies that highlight expert quality, patient safety and appropriateness of testing.