The American College of Radiology® (ACR®) sent a call to action (CTA) Sept. 3 to all ACR members requesting their participation in two separate advocacy efforts: send a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about cuts included in the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule caused by a proposed increase to clinical labor values, which would heavily impact interventional radiology and radiation oncology; and send a letter to their members of Congress to alert them about this action. In the week that these CTAs were available to ACR members, more than 900 comments were submitted to CMS and more than 1,300 emails were sent to members of Congress.
Shortly after the clinical labor CTA was sent, ACR members were asked to again contact their congressional representative and encourage them to sign a “Dear Colleague” letter from Reps. Ami Bera, MD, and Larry Bucshon, MD, to congressional leadership. The letter requests leadership’s support for the extension of the 2021 3.75% positive Medicare payment adjustment. The positive adjustment expires Dec. 31. The Dear Colleague CTA has garnered more than 1,000 letters from ACR members to Capitol Hill in less than a week. If you have not yet contacted your member of Congress, the ACR encourages you to reach out to your lawmaker today.
Last year the advocacy efforts and support from ACR members helped stave off cuts by CMS that would have inadvertently affected patient access to care during a very critical time. With your help, the ACR can continue its fight for patient access.
For more information, contact Josh Cooper at jcooper@acr.org.