ACR: Medicare cuts arbitrary, undermine care
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a 50 percent cut to the professional component for multiple procedure payments in certain settings, a move the American College of Radiology (ACR) said amounted to “blind cost-cutting” that would imperil many radiologists and undermine patient care.
Following the recommendations of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), the CMS' Proposed Rule for 2012 calls for a 50 percent multiple procedure payment reduction for the professional component of CT, MRI and ultrasound services, when administered on the same patient, on the same day and in the same setting.
ACR called the Proposed Rule “unprecedented” in its aim at the professional component of physician services. Previous cuts, such as those of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, targeted the technical component of imaging services (and other sectors).
In response to the CMS announcement, a bipartisan group of 61 members of Congress signed a letter to congressional colleagues opposing the cuts. “These payment cuts are making it extremely difficult for radiologists to keep their practices and free-standing imaging centers open for business and available to patients. Without access to these facilities, patient access to valuable community-based diagnostic imaging services could be compromised and the vast majority of imaging services may be delivered in the hospital setting, potentially at a higher cost to Medicare,” the letter read.
“These proposed cuts are not evidence-based and simply represent blind cost-cutting. Current payments to doctors for advanced imaging interpretations are an accurate reflection of the complexity of the process and should not be arbitrarily slashed,” argued John A. Patti, MD, chair of the ACR's board of chancellors. “Medicare should support such quality care and not repeatedly attempt to undermine it.”
Citing the closure of some 212 mammography facilities in the U.S. and recent slowing of growth in imaging, the ACR argued that further cuts would seriously jeopardize access to care, independent radiology practices and patient outcomes.
Following the recommendations of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), the CMS' Proposed Rule for 2012 calls for a 50 percent multiple procedure payment reduction for the professional component of CT, MRI and ultrasound services, when administered on the same patient, on the same day and in the same setting.
ACR called the Proposed Rule “unprecedented” in its aim at the professional component of physician services. Previous cuts, such as those of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, targeted the technical component of imaging services (and other sectors).
In response to the CMS announcement, a bipartisan group of 61 members of Congress signed a letter to congressional colleagues opposing the cuts. “These payment cuts are making it extremely difficult for radiologists to keep their practices and free-standing imaging centers open for business and available to patients. Without access to these facilities, patient access to valuable community-based diagnostic imaging services could be compromised and the vast majority of imaging services may be delivered in the hospital setting, potentially at a higher cost to Medicare,” the letter read.
“These proposed cuts are not evidence-based and simply represent blind cost-cutting. Current payments to doctors for advanced imaging interpretations are an accurate reflection of the complexity of the process and should not be arbitrarily slashed,” argued John A. Patti, MD, chair of the ACR's board of chancellors. “Medicare should support such quality care and not repeatedly attempt to undermine it.”
Citing the closure of some 212 mammography facilities in the U.S. and recent slowing of growth in imaging, the ACR argued that further cuts would seriously jeopardize access to care, independent radiology practices and patient outcomes.