Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

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.