Senators introduce bipartisan bill bolstering Medicare patients’ access to diagnostic imaging agents
Senators from both political parties on Thursday introduced legislation aimed at boosting Medicare beneficiaries’ access to diagnostic imaging agents.
The Facilitating Innovation Nuclear Diagnostics Act of 2021 would direct Health and Human Services to pay separately for radiopharmaceuticals above a cost threshold of $500 per day. Since 2008, Medicare has treated such drugs as “ancillary” to the procedure, packaging together both the exam and imaging agent, historically resulting in underpayment.
“Innovative technology like diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals are important tools in detecting and treating diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who introduced the bill alongside Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. “The FIND Act would increase patient access to more cost-effective treatment options while promoting further research and development opportunities for medical manufacturers.”
Bipartisan representatives also introduced similar legislation in the House last month. Lawmakers at the time noted that current payment rules are preventing safety-net hospitals and other providers from affording imaging agents, leaving patients without access to cutting-edge diagnostics. The bills are budget-neutral and would not require tax increases to cover such care.
Industry lobbying group the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance applauded the Senate proposal on Aug. 5, labeling this as a “nonpartisan issue.”
“The FIND Act provides a legislative solution to modernize CMS payment policies for PET diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals and expand access,” Sue Bunning, MITA’s industry director of molecular imaging and PET, said in a statement, adding that the bill will also encourage innovators, product developers and others to enter the medical technology space.
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.