American College of Radiology outlines 2027 Medicare fee schedule’s impact on imaging pay
The American College of Radiology on July 23 released its latest “impact tables,” outlining estimates for how the new Medicare fee schedule will impact payment rates.
ACR said the document compares newly proposed 2027 payment amounts against 2026 ones across all individual, radiology-related codes. This includes both 70,000-series and non-70,000 CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes, billed across diagnostic and interventional radiology, along with radiation oncology.
The college used the proposed conversion factor of $32.84, a 1.68% cut from 2026, to calculate its figures. This is the amount used for most docs operating outside of alternative payment models.
“ACR staff will update the tables when CMS releases the final 2027 MPFS rule later this year utilizing the finalized conversion factor,” the college said in a Thursday news update, directing members with further questions to contact Katie Keysor, its senior director of economic policy.
The Society of Interventional Radiology also released its own impact analysis from the rule on July 23, which is included in a separate news update. Among the highlights, ACR is projecting that CT angiography of the chest (CPT 71275) will increase by 149% in 2027, up to $83.09. Meanwhile, other services such as CT of the upper extremities without dye (73200) would see sizable cuts (-15%).
These changes come as CMS is formally exploring alternatives to the American Medical Association’s long-established CPT system. This marks an escalation of “years of mounting scrutiny of the physician lobby’s influence over Medicare payment policy,” Inside Health Policy reported Friday. Results of the request for information could potentially open the door to a “fundamental overhaul of how physician services are coded and valued,” the news site noted.
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.