Medical societies representing radiology and other specialties are pressing members of Congress to pass a bipartisan bill that would blunt Medicare cuts tied to clinical labor costs.
House representatives first introduced the Providing Relief and Stability for Medicare Patients Act of 2023 in May. The proposal would lend relief to radiologists, radiation oncologists and others by increasing nonfacility practice expense relative value units for procedures performed in office settings that require high-tech devices or equipment.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held an Oct. 19 hearing to discuss House Resolution 3674, among other legislative proposals. Trade groups including the American College of Radiology, Society of Interventional Radiology and American Society for Radiation Oncology urged lawmakers to pass the proposal and provide much-needed relief to these specialties.
“The clinical labor update policy, finalized in the CY2022 MPFS Final Rule, recognized the need for increased salary rates for all types of clinical labor (e.g., nurses and technologists),” 24 groups, together called the Clinical Labor Coalition, said in an Oct. 19 statement commending the proposal’s inclusion at the hearing. “But, due to the budget neutrality constraints in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, decreased reimbursement rates for those services with high supply and equipment costs when performed in a community-based office setting. H.R. 3674 would provide critical relief for office-based specialists by increasing the nonfacility/office-based practice expense relative value units negatively impacted by CMS’ clinical labor policy for the next two years.”
ACR highlighted the recent legislative push in an Oct. 26 news update, noting that it “appreciates the subcommittee’s efforts to highlight this bipartisan legislation.” Lawmakers also discussed a second radiologist-supported policy proposal, the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act of 2023, which would grant automatic, annual inflation-based payment increases tied to the Medicare Economic Index.
“While it is unclear if any of the proposals will be advanced, ACR looks forward to working with Congress to ensure policies to address Medicare reimbursement are included in any year-end legislative package,” the college said Oct. 26.
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.