The American College of Radiology® (ACR®), in collaboration with a broad coalition of healthcare provider organizations, delivered a letter to members of the 117th Congress this week to again note the provider community’s appreciation for Congress’ year-end action to mitigate the payment cuts generated by changes to evaluation and management (E/M) codes.
As a result of advocacy by this ACR-led coalition, the year-end Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) rolled back the scheduled payment cuts to radiologists by more than half — from 10% to approximately 4% for 2021 — with further, phased-in adjustments thereafter. This mitigation offered a reprieve from the disastrous cuts that were slated to start Jan. 1 and provided an opportunity for the ACR and its coalition partners to continue engagement with Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to identify a longer-term solution.
The letter, signed by 75 organizations representing both physician and non-physician healthcare providers, thanked lawmakers for including provisions in the CAA to address pending payment cuts and outlined a collective desire to continue working with lawmakers to permanently resolve this critical issue.