The Facilitating Innovative Nuclear Diagnostic (FIND) Act -- a bill that could significantly change how PET radiopharmaceuticals are covered for Medicare beneficiaries -- has been reintroduced in the U.S. Congress.
The FIND Act of 2023 would direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish separate payment requirements for diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals. The bipartisan bill was introduced on February 27 by Representatives Neal Dunn (R-FL), Scott Peters (D-CA), Greg Murphy (R-NC), and Terri Sewell (D-AL).
Currently, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) bundles payments for PET radiopharmaceuticals as part of the packaged cost of imaging procedures in hospital outpatient settings. This bundled payment for radiopharmaceuticals -- PET tracers for diagnosing prostate cancer or Alzheimer's disease, for instance -- does not adequately cover their costs, according to the bill's supporters.
The Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), which has lobbied heavily for the new legislation, said inadequate reimbursement impacts the availability of the procedures and ultimately affects patient care.
"The current Medicare reimbursement structure disincentivizes hospitals and providers from offering crucial testing that can often lead to earlier diagnosis and more accurate treatments," said SNMMI President Dr. Munir Ghesani in a March 6 statement.
The FIND Act was also introduced in Congress last year and in 2021, but the bipartisan bill has yet to progress past committee consideration.
