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. Of key priority to American College of Radiology® (ACR®) members are addressing looming Medicare physician payment cuts that take effect Jan. 1; ensuring the federal government implements the No Surprises Act (NSA) as Congress intended; garnering support for legislation to improve early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer; and ensuring the appropriate use criteria (AUC) program is implemented.
ACR members are encouraged to be proactive and contact their lawmakers using American College of Radiology Association® tools by answering three calls to action. Urge your members of Congress to:
• Address the impending 2025 Medicare physician payment cuts and obtain a positive update to physician payment. Cosponsor the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act of 2024, H.R. 10073, and/or similar legislation in the Senate. Introduced by Reps. Greg Murphy, MD (R-NC), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-IA), Ami Bera, MD (D-CA), Larry Buchson MD (R-IN), Raul Ruiz, MD (D-CA), John Joyce, MD (R-PA), and Kim Schrier, MD (D-WA), H.R. 10073 would eliminate the upcoming proposed MPFS conversion factor reduction and add an update equivalent to one half of the Medicare Economic Index for 2025.
• Cosponsor H.R. 9572, The Enhanced Enforcement of Health Coverage Act. Introduced by Reps. Greg Murphy, MD, (R-NC), Raul Ruiz, MD, (D-CA), John Joyce, MD, (R-PA), Kim Schrier, MD, (D-WA), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), H.R. 9572 would strengthen the enforcement of the NSA by financially penalizing health insurance companies that fail to pay physicians within 30 days of the conclusion of the independent dispute resolution ruling.
• Cosponsor H.R. 3086, the Find It Early Act. Introduced by Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), the bill would improve early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer when it is most treatable by guaranteeing insurance coverage for supplemental breast imaging at no cost to the patient.
In addition, ACR continues to advocate for a legislative fix to ensure the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA) appropriate use criteria (AUC) program is implemented. The AUC program, founded on physician-developed guidelines, is meant to guide providers in determining whether an advanced imaging study is appropriate, and if so, which kind of study is most appropriate. The PAMA Imaging AUC program was mandated by Congress to be implemented by 2017. Regrettably, statutory requirements resulted in numerous implementation problems for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). 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.
All legislative alerts are on the Radiology Advocacy Network webpage.
For more information or if you have questions, contact Ashley Walton, ACR Director of Government Affairs.