In recognition of the widely diverse opinions of its members, the American College of Radiology® (ACR®) Board of Chancellors (BOC) has instructed that the ACR Government Relations Department neither support nor oppose the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act (MARCA).
As is common among membership associations with a neutral stance on a particular bill, the ACR government relations team will not lobby Congress regarding MARCA 2021. The ACR will continue to press Congress on our legislative priorities, including mitigating potentially significant reimbursement cuts found in the the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule, such as Medicare evaluation and management income redistribution and changes to the clinical labor formula that would devastate interventional radiology and radiation oncology.
Neutrality on MARCA will remain in effect until the ACR Council determines an official policy following receipt of a report from the BOC. That report, to be provided after additional listening sessions and information gathering, will include results of a survey of member views on MARCA.
The BOC instruction follows weeks of conversations with ACR members, including:
- ACR Town Hall: Radiologist Assistants and MARCA (member login required).
- New MARCA microsite on ACR.org.
- ACR RRAs/MARCA condensed summary.
- What is a Registered Radiologist Assistant (RRA) webpage.
- Multiple ACR leader posts on Engage, e-newsletter articles and social media posts.
The ACR continues to actively oppose imaging supervision or interpretation and any independent practice by non-physician providers.
The College has created a funding source to help combat state level efforts to expand scope of practice.