American College of Radiology wants members to mobilize after the election
The American College of Radiology wants its members to mobilize after the Tuesday election.
ACR is asking the imaging community to contact their federal representatives, urging them to pass three key pieces of legislation before Jan. 1. Top-of-mind for the House of Medicine is enacting a pay fix so that physicians do not sustain a 2.83% cut to the Medicare conversion factor beginning in 2025.
“As the nation moves past the election season and Congress is scheduled to return to Capitol Hill Nov. 12, many issues that affect patients and radiologists remain to be resolved before year’s end,” ACR said in a Wednesday news update. “Of key priority to American College of Radiology members are addressing looming Medicare physician payment cuts that take effect Jan. 1.”
In addition, ACR also wants two key pieces of proposed legislation passed before the year’s end, which it previously called out in October. The Find it Early Act would require health insurers to pay for supplemental breast imaging scans such as MRI and ultrasound, which patients often must cover out of pocket. Meanwhile, the Enhanced Enforcement of Health Coverage Act would increase penalties for insurers that refuse to issue payment in disputes arbitrated under the No Surprises Act.
“ACR members are encouraged to be proactive and contact their lawmakers using American College of Radiology Association tools by answering three calls to action,” the society said Nov. 6.
Finally, ACR also wants Congress to issue a legislative fix to ensure the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 appropriate use criteria program is implemented. This program would require referring physicians to consult clinical decision support before ordering an imaging exam, hoping to cut back on low-value imaging. However, appropriate use has been plagued by delays and implementation issues and has been suspended indefinitely by the federal government.
“ACR has proposed legislative language that would enable CMS to implement the AUC program and save Medicare billions of dollars. The college continues to meet with key congressional committees to advance this proposal,” according to the news update.
The American Medical Association also called for congressional action on Nov. 1 ahead of the election, with its focus on the Medicare cut set to take effect in less than two months.
“Now there are only a precious few legislative days left,” AMA President Bruce A. Scott, MD, said in a statement. “Unless Congress acts during the lame duck, the cuts will go through. Physicians and patients are watching, wondering if Congress is up to the task of fixing this broken reimbursement system. Thankfully, there are signs that lawmakers recognize the gravity of the situation,” he added, pointing to the recently proposed Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.