Imaging societies have urged the Centers for Medicare and Medcaid Services (CMS) to take steps to ensure adequate and appropriate payment for medical imaging services in calendar year 2024.
In a March 13 letter to CMS, Societies led by the Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance (MITA) noted that the federal insurance agency again called for significant cuts to provider payment in the calendar year 2023 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS).
The PFS was the only Medicare fee schedule to not receive an inflationary increase in reimbursement, with a projected cut of 4.5% to the conversion factor, relative to that of 2022, the groups wrote. Concerningly, the 2022 conversion factor was lower than the rate in 1998, the group added.
While Congress took action to address reductions in the PFS at the end of last year by reducing the payment cut to approximately 2.1%, the rate in 2023 remains lower than the rate over 20 years ago, the groups wrote.
"Temporary relief is welcome but fails to adequately address the serious financial pressures of sustained high inflation, escalating supply costs, a dwindling workforce, and the ongoing economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic," the groups wrote.
Societies supporting the call to action included the Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance, the Radiology Business Management Association, and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).
