Stark: No self-referral legislation on the horizon
Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, told the ACR Council at the 84th ACR Annual Meeting and Chapter Leadership Conference that he has no plans to pursue self-referral legislation at this time. "[I am] not sure there should be a Stark III," he said. "Lawyers keep finding loopholes and more loopholes in these laws. Stark III would just probably create even more loopholes."
A member of the audience asked, "How can we address unethical practices by doctors, including self-referral?" In response, Stark, who has served in Congress since 1973 and is the original sponsor of two generations of self-referral legislation known as Stark I and Stark II, said, "You're asking Congress to legislate morality? Not a good idea."
When asked whether he would support H.R. 1293, the Access to Medicare Imaging Act of 2007 that calls for a moratorium on the imaging reimbursement cuts contained in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Stark indicated that he had not decided, saying, "Honestly, I don't know." The legislation has garnered more than 100 co-sponsors in the House, including 11 members of the Ways and Means Committee. Earlier in his speech he had cautioned, "…we are in the pay-as-you-go mode. Legislation is not being passed unless there is a way to pay for it. So that limits what can be passed."
However, Stark acknowledged that there were existing financial incentives for many referring physicians to perform imaging studies themselves, although he was unclear on what can be done to deal with it. He referenced accreditation as a potential way to ensure safer and more appropriate imaging several times during his speech, stating that he thought that accreditation for imaging providers "made a lot of sense."