SNMMI believes the proposed payment pathway will prevent patients' access to diagnosis and treatment.

The government has until early March to respond, but 3 professional organizations including the ACR want a faster resolution since the No Surprises Act took effect Jan. 1. 

Avoiding such Medicare reductions, despite a "bitterly partisan Congress" and ongoing pandemic, is "simply remarkable," one ACR leader said Thursday. 

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra believes this marks the “most critical consumer protection law” since the Affordable Care Act of 2010.  

ACR is joined by similar groups representing anesthesiologists and emergency physicians, hoping to fix a new process aimed at settling disputes between providers and payers. 

Providers are less likely to reveal prices for more expensive services, which might suggest "strategic disclosing decisions," experts wrote in JAMA. 

Earlier in 2021, radiologists and members of Congress had sought much larger numbers, totaling 14,000 new residents by 2029. 

ACR and others are urging the agency to remove recommended screening cutoffs for Medicare beneficiaries after age 77, among other changes.