The American College of Radiology (ACR) is applauding passage of the $1.15 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act by Congress on December 18. The bill now heads to President Obama, who is expected to sign it into law, funding spending by the U.S. government until September 2016.
ACR in particular lauded patient access protections included in the bill, which improve medicine and enable a step toward better healthcare policy, according to the organization.
"The ACR, its member physicians, patients, and others continue to work with Congress and regulators to move imaging care forward and safeguard patient access to that care," ACR wrote in a statement. "Passage of this bill is a tremendous step forward for that process."
The legislation includes a rollback from 25% to 5% of the Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction, which cuts Medicare reimbursement for interpretation of advanced imaging scans performed on the same patient in the same session on the same day -- a change ACR said it spearheaded.
The rollback of reimbursement reductions strengthens access to imaging care for the most sick and injured Medicare patients, who often require more than one scan as part of their care, ACR said.
The organization has also backed the Protecting Access to Lifesaving Screenings Act, which delays recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) draft breast cancer screening recommendations for two years, continuing mandatory insurance coverage for two years so the changes can be vetted thoroughly, ACR said.
