The Finance Committee of the U.S. Senate has removed trade bill provisions that would have raised the utilization rate for advanced diagnostic imaging equipment to 90%, according to the Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance (MITA).
The increase was part of a trade adjustment assistance (TAA) extension program designed to offset the expense of eliminating tariffs in a free trade agreement with South Korea by raising $400 million in Medicare cuts. The utilization rate, or the rate at which Medicare assumes equipment is in use at the average facility, is currently 75%.
"With imaging procedure use flat and reimbursements having been cut five times in five years, the Senate Finance Committee's decision to remove dramatic Medicare cuts for imaging from the trade bill is good news for those concerned with access to early diagnosis and disease detection," said Dave Fisher, executive director of MITA, in a statement.
