At a hearing this week, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has confirmed the recent downward trend in Medicare spending and utilization of medical imaging services.
During its public meeting on December 15, MedPAC stated that imaging services paid for by Medicare decreased by 2.5% in 2010. The figure coincides with an analysis of Medicare claims data commissioned by the Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance (MITA).
MITA last month released an analysis that found that spending on imaging services for each Medicare beneficiary has dropped 13% since 2006, when imaging-specific reimbursement reductions from the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 began to take effect. Imaging utilization per beneficiary declined by 3% in 2010.
