The American College of Radiology (ACR) strongly supports S. 3795 (the Access to Medicare Imaging Act), bipartisan legislation calling for a two-year moratorium on drastic medical imaging reimbursement cuts included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) and a comprehensive Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to analyze the impact of the DRA payment methodology on patient access, particularly in rural and medically underserved areas.

S. 3795, introduced by Senators Gordon Smith (R, Ore.) and Jay Rockefeller (D, W.Va.), and originally cosponsored by Jeff Bingaman (D, N.M.), Richard Burr (R, N.C.), Mike DeWine (R, Ohio), Johnny Isakson (R, Ga.), Robert Menendez (D, N.J.), and Debbie Stabenow (D, Mich.), parallels HR 5704, introduced into the House by Representative Joe Pitts (R, Pa.) and nearly 70 cosponsors.

"The ACR applauds Senators Smith and Rockefeller for recognizing the need to examine the dramatic imaging cuts in the DRA and their detrimental effect on patient care. The GAO study called for by S. 3795 is vital in light of recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) admissions that neither body recommended the DRA cuts to Congress nor conducted any study as to their effect on patient access prior to passage of the DRA," said Arl Van Moore, MD, FACR, chair of the ACR Board of Chancellors. "To have such deep cuts go into effect without a thorough review would create an unfair burden for patients. The detrimental effects on the American health care system caused by these unsubstantiated cuts will be felt for many years to come."

The DRA, passed by Congress in February, arbitrarily capped the technical component reimbursement for physician office imaging to the lesser of the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System or Medicare Fee Schedule payment, slashing reimbursement by up to 50 percent for many life-saving technologies, such as CT angiography (CTA) and brain or spine MRI. Preliminary analyses found that 80 percent of the services potentially affected by the DRA limits will be paid at rates less than the estimated cost of performing the service in the physician office setting.

"If allowed to go through, these drastic cuts may force many physicians to limit the number of Medicare patients they receive. Medicare beneficiaries, particularly in rural areas, may be forced to endure increased wait and travel times to receive imaging services and higher copayments. The cuts may also discourage research and development of new imaging technologies that are increasingly replacing more invasive (and more costly) techniques," added Moore. "To impose these effects on patients without any input from any health care experts doesn't make sense. We are glad that the sponsors of the Senate and House bills are now asking that Congress take the time to find a sensible approach to imaging services."

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